Live to tell the tale
by Namicchi
Summary: When Sawamura joined the Gild he didn't expect to find out that some legends are true. But he had to deal with others, more dangerous things, than a mystical magical bond. When a horrific plan is being uncovered is there even a chance anyone will survive? (written for MiSawa Big Bang 2016)
1. Chapter 1

**Beta:** wonderful Nikki ( chenamila at tumblr )

 **Artist (** _ **partner in crime)**_ **:** amazing Annie ( maniacani at tumblr )

 **Link to pictures:** maniacani . tumblr post/151145717313/

 **Rating:** NC-15

 **Warnings:** language, graphical description of violence, slow burn

 **Genre:** fantasy (RPG!AU)

 **Word count:** ~ 55 000

 **A/N:** I present you RPG!MiSawa AU for daiyabigbang at tumblr. It was fun writing it, even if my writer's block decided to try to interfere. Someone may notice that it's in the same universum as my other fic, Over the hills and far away, but reading the other fic is not needed to understand this one.

I was paired with amazing, sweet artist Annie. Not only she drew beautiful pictures, but she had lot of questions, which helped me with the fic (btw if she ever starts to make clothes, I'm calling dibs on Miyuki's coat - I want one like the one she drew!). Also, big thanks to my beta, Nikki, who made this fic readable. Thank you so much, girls, for helping me with this story!

I'd like to thank TG too for hosting this event and being very understanding about changing dates of posting this story.

In the end I want to thank everyone who will read this fic. I hope you will like it. Please, visit Annie and Nikki's blogs, to thank them for their hard work.

* * *

 **Live to tell the tale**

Sawamura was following the small lancer ( _Call me Haruichi_ ) to the place when the entrance exam was going to take place, his head turning left and right so fast it was a miracle his neck hadn't snapped yet.

The whole capital was something different than the village Sawamura had grown up in, but the Gild was simply awesome. Sawamura could feel how the whole place was pulsing with magic; and the presence of so many warriors was making his head dizzy. It was the first time he was feeling so much power around himself and it made him feel alive.

The Gild was a complex of big, stony buildings without many decorations. Behind every building was a field to practice, surrounded by magical barrier – it was shining in the sunlight with a soft, yellow glow. After passing the main gate, Sawamura and Haruichi were walking along with the crowd, avoiding going through the main ground of the Gild. Instead, they were lead (or more like Sawamura was being lead, because Haruichi seemed to know where was he going) left, to a field lying at the side of the Gild. Still, Sawamura could see the roofs of the dorm buildings behind the main practice fields – he'd heard there was a small park with a swimming pond behind dorms.

Every building looked sturdy, strong as if it had been built to survive wars. Utilizing all his historical knowledge, Sawamura knew that was true. At first the city of Ankur, before it had became a capital, was a small military town. A bastion to protect borders of Niho. After the country started to expand , the town began to grow bigger too. Soon, it needed more space than protection the Gild building could provide. Ankur had been surrounded by a heavy wall, leaving the old military building for a newly created school for warriors.

"Eijun-nini," Haruichi pulled on Sawamura's sleeve. "Can you see them?"

Sawamura looked around himself, but he couldn't see any familiar faces.

When Master Rei had arrived with Sawamura yesterday to Ankur, she had left Sawamura in a small motel with rooms booked for kids wanting to attend the Gild. It had been then when he had met Haruichi. The lancer was actually the first to talk with Sawamura, after he almost gotten into a fight with some big kid bullying someone else. The way Haruichi solved the conflict was impressive; Sawamura hadn't even noticed when he had been sitting at the table with Haruichi and his friends, instead of teaching that asshole a lesson. Or trying to.

"No, I can't see them. Maybe they are at the front of queue?"

Barely those words left Sawamura's lips, he felt the familiar auras behind himself. Both he and Haruichi turned immediately to see Furuya and Kanemaru walking towards them.

"There you are!" Kanemaru sighed. "I started to think you decided to quit."

"You wish!" Sawamura grinned at the lancer. "I told you, I'm going to become the best paladin in the country!"

"Sure," Kanemaru snorted. "Have luck with beating one of the Gild Sixth." Then he turned to Haruichi, waving his hand between himself and Furuya. "What took you so long? We've been waiting here for ages."

"We took a wrong turn and, later, it was hard to move too fast in that crowd, Shinji-nini." Haruichi looked up – Sawamura still was trying to figure out how Haruichi could see anything from behind that thick, pink curtain he called his fringe. "Looks like the whole city wants to see entrance exam."

"…Not the whole city," Furuya murmured quietly , adjusting the bow on his back. "But it is quite a lot of people."

All of them nodded. There were many wannabe students with them, but it seemed as if the audience were six or even seven their size. And they were looking at Sawamura and his new friends, pointing at them, and whispering amongst themselves. Of course, it was easy enough to tell they were going to try pass the exam – all of them had been issued a standard set of clothes for the exam and were wearing them already.

Sawamura didn't even try to pretend he didn't feel good in his new clothes. Both his brown trousers and blouse was made from hard, but soft material. He had gotten a few parts of paladin's suit of armour too: silver breastplate, epaulieres, scubitieres and (surprise) silver graves. The sword blacksmith Tanaka had made for Sawamura, before he had gone to Ankur, was heavy on his back, reminding him about what was going to happen.

He wouldn't lie, he was nervous. But more than that Sawamura couldn't wait for the exam. He couldn't wait for it since master Rei visited him three years ago to check his magical powers. She had insisted on sending him to the Gild, while Sawamura's parents hadn't been sure if that was a good idea.

' _After all,'_ Sawamura thought grimly, ' _People die during this training.'_

Five years. Five whole years of studying, practicing control over his powers, and going on missions, before the final exam, when he would be paired up with a magician to test them both.

Sawamura himself had been sure he wanted to attend the Gild, and after Master Rei had taken him to Ankur, he knew he had to come back here again.

Absentmindedly, Sawamura touched the necklace his mother gave him. It was a habit to play with it every time he felt _that_ pull of magical power – like now.

It was hard to explain and weird, and Sawamura couldn't even bring himself to talk about it with his parents, but since… well, always, he had been feeling _something_. It was as if someone out there was waiting for him, as if his own magic powers were trying to reach for something. But for what? It was already weird enough that that he was a paladin, while his parents were a healer and a summoner – by all laws he should magician - so Sawamura didn't want to voice aloud another weird thing about him.

Putting a fake smile on his face and trying to sound cheerful, Sawamura laughed.

"Good! Let them stare at the future star of Niho!"

"So noisy," someone said suddenly at Sawamura's left. There was an older man in the civil clothes of a knight, looking at their little group with bored expression. "You won't last a day at the Gild… if you even pass the exam."

Sawamura felt his face grow hotter.

The guy wasn't alone; he was accompanied by another man, much taller, who was wearing dark glasses. The other guy was dressed in the usual paladin's suit of armour, his face closed. Yet, when he spoke, there was reprimand in his voice.

"Professor Ochiai, the exam hasn't even started yet." Then he looked at Sawamura, as if judging his abilities. "This kind of attitude can be helpful in small doses."

"You're too soft, professor Kataoka."

Professors? Sawamura gulped. He had almost told that Ochiai guy to go to hell… Although, it looked as if Ochiai had an opinion about him already, so why not tell anything? But under the unreadable gaze of the other professor, Sawamura felt a weird feeling of wanting to behave his best.

When Kataoka spoke again, this time he addressed their whole group.

"You are supposed to split into groups with your specialization. Paladin will go with me and the rest with professor Ochiai."

They all nodded, because what else they were supposed to do? Telling each other to "do well!", Sawamura went after Kataoka, feeling uneasy. The professor didn't say anything to him though, merely calling to all other paladins to join them. That was distracting. Hadn't master Rei told him that their guides would try to cheer them up, give them pointers or something?

The professor led them to the exam field, which was surrounded by a blue barrier. That made Sawamura furrow his eyebrows in confusion. Why were the rest of the barriers gold, but not that one?

The field is circular, with trodden ground. It's so big that the four groups of warriors (paladins, knights, archers and lancers) have lots of free space for themselves – Sawamura cannot even see Haruichi, Furuya or Kanemaru. Citizens of Ankur and parents of teenagers taking the exam were sitting on benches behind the barrier; it hurt a little to know that his parents couldn't come for the exam, but Sawamura knew they were busy with preparations for the harvest season.

Right in front of the entrance to the field is a stage behind the barrier where, Sawamura learnt, other professors were going to sit to judge their abilities. Half of the seats was empty, yet the one in center was occupied by an old man, who looked like a kind grandfather. He was smiling jovially at everyone; it was hard to believe that he was one of the most powerful knights when he was younger. Sakaki Eijirou: a man, who had almost singlehandedly ended the Last War. Sawamura had to fight with himself to not stare at the man in awe.

Then Kataoka coughed and Sawamura's gaze immediately turned to him. The paladin looked at the group of teenagers, folding his arms on his chest.

"I'm not going to tell you the exam will be easy," he started, his voice cold and steady. "But I'm looking at you and I'm seeing only determination and fighting spirit. Show it to other judges, show them your passion, give your best and you _will_ pass. Show them how great paladins you can be."

The little group cheered at that and Sawamura joined everyone in loud "Yes, sir!". Other groups were yelling already too. Huh; it seemed to be a normal part of the entrance exam. Sawamura suddenly started to wish he had been listening to Haruichi talking about his brother's exam more closely yesterday.

Sakaki stood up and everyone suddenly went quiet. When he started speaking, his voice was heard in the whole place – a magician must had cast a spell on him earlier.

"Welcome! Welcome to the three hundred sixty eight entrance exam." People in the audience started to cheer loudly.

Sakaki allowed that for a few moments, before speaking again, yet this time, Sawamura could barely hear him. The feeling of that strange, familiar magic assaulted his senses, and Sawamura had to start taking deeper breaths in order to not scream out in frustration.

It was happening again! Since yesterday, since the moment he had first stepped into Ankur, Sawamura had been feeling that… something or someone _closer_ , but at the same time he couldn't tell what that was! And now it was happening again! He tried to discreetly look around himself, but one stern "Stop it," from professor Kataoka made him freeze.

Whatever it was, it was closer than ever before and Sawamura decided he was going to learn today what that was. His magic was pulsing, roaring around him – other paladins were already looking at him with puzzled expressions. Sawamura hoped they would think he wasn't able to control his magic too well, because he was nervous. It wouldn't do Sawamura anything good if he admitted to sensing a strong source of magic power through his whole life, right?

* * *

Miyuki didn't wake up in too good of a mood.

He had been planning to spend the day in the library, but had been stopped by Master Kunitomo, who had requested Miyuki's presence during the entrance exams of warriors. Miyuki couldn't say "no"; after all, it _was_ a honour to present your talents during the entrance exams, rub it into the faces of all those kids who thought that they were way beneath even the worst student in the Oasis and Gild.

Also, citizens always liked to watch performances of magicians and warriors before entrance exams. Happy citizens meant bigger funds, so Miyuki, reluctantly, had showed up at the exam.

He constantly wished he hadn't.

The sensation of a familiar kind of magic had hit him, with the strength of a griffin, the moment Miyuki had come closer to the exam field. Yuuki, a third year paladin, had looked curiously over at Miyuki, who almost doubled over in pain. Quickly, Miyuki had laughed at himself, joking aloud how he shouldn't had stayed up reading so long the day before, because now he was too sleepy to walk properly.

Yuuki had seemed to buy this excuse for which Miyuki was glad. He didn't fancy the idea of explaining to anyone what he could sometimes feel – now stronger than ever. Miyuki had never before been so glad for lessons in controlling his magic master Rei had given him. As a healer, her control was at the highest level and she had made sure Miyuki's was too. Miyuki's magical power wanted to reach to that other source of power, almost as if it were alive, and it was taking a lot of strength to keep it tightly around himself.

Miyuki groaned inwardly, clenching his jaw. It was nothing. Maybe he was simply corresponding to someone's else magical powers. After all, warriors and magicians' powers sometimes were so similar that they formed fighting powers.

Of course, Miyuki snorted, there were also speculations about so-called _battery_ , but to even try to think this magical pull would be something like that… ridiculous.

He ignored how those fighting pairs normally couldn't feel each other, since they were kids. It wasn't exactly normal that Miyuki had been feeling the presence of that something or someone for years, but since that night when he had met master Rei, was there anything normal about him left?

Lord Sakaki finished his speech, gesturing for the first of performers to step into the field.

"What are you going to show, Zono?" Kuramochi leaned against his bow, looking at the summoner.

"That's a surprise." Zono grinned at them, waving to the professors that he was coming. "Wish me luck!"

"Wish him luck…?" Miyuki repeated, surprised. "What is he planning?"

"I heard he was practicing summoning one of the Mighty Beasts," said Jun, looking at walking Zono with wonder. "Tch, I wonder if he can do it."

Miyuki's eyes widened and he heard excited murmurs of his companions. A Mighty Beast? No one had summoned it in years; some even started saying that Mighty had became angry at something the humans did.

That was something Miyuki didn't actually believe, but he had a hard time believing in summoners' myths and magic. They were almost completely separate class from magicians and warriors. They couldn't fight, their magic powers in fields like dark spells or healing weren't impressive, but they could summon a demon from another world to protect them and control that beast. There were so many questions surrounding them, Miyuki simply thought it was silly to say that this or that statement was true.

They watched how Zono passed the barrier, which immediately changed its colour to green. That barrier was something Miyuki wished he could study: when it was green, people could come outside, but not inside, when it was blue, it was the other way around. It was created this way so no attacks of warriors (especially archers) would hurt the audience during entrance exams and later, before students acquired a satisfying control over their powers.

Man. It paid off to listen to Mei's rambling from time to time.

Observing how wannabe students were moving around the field, to have better look at Zono, Miyuki used that opportunity to see if any of those boys and girls were experiencing problems with their magical powers.

Sure, he quickly located a few of them, but it was hard to say if any of them were answering to his magic or if they were just excited and couldn't control themselves.

That magic…Miyuki closed his eyes for a moment, involuntary tasting that other power: warm and shiny, but at its core stubborn and determined. Huh. If that source of power was a person, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad to partner him or her. A person with such aura was bound to be a hard worker, and Miyuki would like that. Of course they would work like a normal magician-warrior pair, not some imagined, silly bat –

Suddenly, Miyuki's hair stood up on his nape and protective threads in his official coat of a dark magician started pulsing with magic. Something was really, very wrong.

"What –" He hastily turned around, magic ready to use already lingering on his fingers. "Did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Jun's eyes narrowed. "I don't feel anything." Yet, he reached for his lance, the jewels in his shield gleaming with magic.

Yuuki turned to Miyuki, his expression serious.

"What are you feeling?"

"I –" Miyuki gulped, the feeling of something being _wrong_ not wanting to leave him. "I'm not sure, but if you say you aren't feeling anything –"

Miyuki never got a chance to finish that sentence. The ground shook under them and they almost fell down. This time, there was no mistake: they all could feel the dark powers coming from the field.

"Zono," Takako whispered, her hand going to the belt where she had vials with potions.

Miyuki looked at the field and he felt his heart stopping. In his musing about that weird source of power, he had completely forgotten that Zono was going to perform a summoning. The summoner was standing at the centre of the field, black rings around him – he was trying to stop the spell, but whatever started to transform, it didn't want to go away.

People in the audience started screaming and running away, while kids on the field weren't moving. With a terrified expression, Miyuki observed how they were preparing their weapons, ready for combat; did they think it was a part of the exam? There was no way that whatever Zono was going to summon would be able to be beaten by a bunch of kids!

"We need to help them."

Even before Yuuki had finished speaking, Miyuki was already running towards the barrier. That other source of power changed; it was pulsing in the air, its aura no more warm, but hot, making Miyuki feel dizzy.

And for Shiva's tits, why weren't the professors going onto the field!?

When Miyuki bounced off the barrier, he discovered why.

"It changed the moment Zono started performing the spell," Growled one of teachers – was that professor Kataoka? "We cannot enter."

Only then, Miyuki realized that professors weren't just standing, watching the barrier like lost souls. They using their own magic powers to bring it down – some of them were using their weapons already. On that sight, kids inside the field had finally started to look terrified; a few of them tried to leave the field, only to bounce off the barrier like Miyuki did.

He hit the barrier with his most powerful stinging spell, but it didn't it bulge. Inside, Zono's screams were getting louder, the black smoke getting more and more real. Other students chosen for performance caught up to Miyuki already, but their efforts were in vain too. It looked like the barrier was feeding off the power of whatever Zono was summoning.

Miyuki's head was spinning. That other source of power was assaulting him, terrified in one moment, to calm down in the next.

What the fuck was going on?!

Then they heard a howl.

Strong dark magic filled the air. Astonished, Miyuki watched the beast Zono had summoned: it was big, the colour of dark purple, resembling a mix between a wolf and a horse, long muzzle, and short, strong legs. Its fangs and claws were long, the tail widening and then tightening like a fan. The whole beast was covered in scales, tongues of flame swirling from between its closed jaw.

It looked as if it didn't know what was happening, what lancers standing behind it used to pull a fainted Zono away from it.

Miyuki heard Takako gasp quietly, Jun's curse, and Yuuki orders to not use even a single ounce of magic now. Such a strong looking beast would usually would surely disappear if they were summoned by mistake – after all, Zono wanted to summon a Mighty Beast, not that monster – and it would be the best if the appeared as non dangerous as they could.

But then the beast opened its jaw, attacking the group of archers with fire and Miyuki realized it wasn't going to go back on its own.

Thankfully, all the archers managed to escape, their natural magic making them quicker than normal people, but they couldn't run the whole time!

The beast turned, focusing on the group of paladins, who stepped back, running away from each other to have more place to dodge attacks and run.

All but one.

Miyuki's heart froze. Through the dark power of the beast, he could feel the steady, hot aura of _his own_. He was suddenly painfully aware of the origin of that power source he had been feeling his whole life: it was the paladin standing in front of the beast, looking like he was in a trance, going to be completely and utterly destroyed in a few moments.

The air was gleaming around that paladin and it took Miyuki only a second to realize that he was preparing to cast a counter-summon charm. But how? He was a paladin, he couldn't…

The beast used fire again, but it stopped in front of the paladin, crashing on a barrier. Of course. Of course; it was impossible to hurt a summoner, who was casting the spell. After they finished? Sure. But when they focused to use their powers, the magic shining around them? Good luck with trying to hurt them.

Knowing this is the only way Miyuki could help, he let his own magic be grasped by the one of the paladins and pushed himself towards the boy in the field.

Yet, instead of taking it, the boy started to _fight_. Miyuki clenched his jaw, focusing harder. What the fuck was going on? Paladin's magic was looking for Miyuki, wanting his powers, but the boy couldn't take it…?

Other teenagers started to tentatively attack the beast, but it was quick and powerful; many of them were already hurt. Archers were trying to protect everyone, keeping the beast from coming closer, but they didn't have infinite amount of arrows.

Miyuki spotted two lancers running around the beast towards the paladin, who had completely stopped moving, probably to take him away, before the beast remembered about that one piece of meat that wasn't fighting. Sure, fire and claws couldn't hurt him, but eating the paladin alive? That could be done.

Not realizing he was doing it, Miyuki's hand clenched on the medallion from his mother and he started to pray, just pray that those lancers were quick enough, because after already tasting that magic of the paladin, which was almost like his own, Miyuki couldn't imagine his life without it anymore.

Gathering all his strength, he focused on hitting the barrier in front of him, at the same time trying to send his power to his own and help him.

If it were any other time, Miyuki would stop to think about using that particular "his own" phrase, but now, he could only think about the hot magic of the paladin and trapped kids.

* * *

Sawamura didn't know what he was doing. The world was in chaos, people were screaming and running in every direction, warriors were trying to attack the beast... and he was standing there alone in front of it, feeling calm. The monster was ferocious, attacking every moving object, but someone was telling Sawamura what to do. It was like his own magic were coming alive, filling him whole, urging Sawamura to do what his instincts were ordering him to.

So, instead of grabbing his sword, he raised his hands up; the magic was pulsing in the air, wanting to be touched and grasped. Sawamura's fingers brushed against it and then bright rings appeared around his stretched out arms – he faintly remembered his mother doing the same thing once, when he was way younger and very, very scared.

The beast looked at him with green eyes blazing with fury. It opened its jaw, showing tongues of flame swirling inside of it. Someone yelled behind Sawamura, urging him to run. He opened his mouth to answer that voice, magic pulsing through his veins, making him feel hot and cold at once.

Instead of a reply, there was a string of words in the language Sawamura didn't know, but he knew it would help. He was hearing a faint echo of his mother's voice telling the same words, could feel the pulsing presence of _that_ person being close to him. He was drunk on magic, pouring every last bit of it into a spell he knew would save them.

"Stop it!"

More screaming and yelling. The beast was being slashed, had arrows thrown at it, but it wasn't backing down. For the first time, Sawamura felt fear; why wasn't the spell working? He was breathing hard, rings shining less brightly, his voice faltering. In place of magic, he had been feeling just moment ago, was only a gaping hole, pulling something inside of him towards darkness, making his heart freeze. If only he was like a lancer who could take powers from around himself...

The beast roared, causing Sawamura to almost make a mistake in the incantation. There were people around him, protecting him from getting hurt, but it wasn't enough! Sawamura needed more magic, he needed –

A sudden rush of power almost knocked Sawamura down. He did double over, hit by an unknown force, but he didn't feel any pain, only extreme relief and happiness. His own answered to him! How could he feel pain when he knew this magic power as good as his own? When that magic was _his, Sawamura's_?

Not stopping to think why he did know that power, what were those thoughts about 'his own', Sawamura reached for it, preparing himself to end the spell. He couldn't understand his own words, couldn't gather his thoughts together, but he knew what he had to do. So, avoiding hands of someone who tried to stop him, Sawamura began to run closer towards the beast, spell on his lips, power from the rings lingering on his hands. The magic was singing inside of him, reaching outside to protect him, to touch the magic of that other presence Sawamura knew on levels he didn't think were possible –

He dodged the pawn of the beast, going straight for its throat. An arrow burning with dark light flew past him, stopping the beast's tail from smashing him like a bug. Sawamura didn't stop to turn around and see who did that, but he already knew it was Furuya; the archer was sending arrow after an arrow, taking full advantage of his speed, making the beast stop moving and letting Sawamura came closer.

Sawamura avoided the beast's teeth – or maybe magic surrounding him stopped them? It didn't matter. What mattered was the need to finish the spell, to let go of all of that magic. His body suddenly started burning and he knew he wasn't going to last long...

There! Sawamura's hands flew to the scales under the beast's throat. He yelled the final words of incarnation, pushing the magic outside, straight into the weakest part – he knew that, somehow - of the monster. The beast roared in pain, its scales turning black. Sawamura almost fell down onto his knees, screaming in agony too; it hurt, it hurt so much to let go of all that power. It was burning his insides, melting his skin... Gods, he could smell scent of burned hair...

Not thinking, knowing he had to act quickly, Sawamura reached for the sword on his back, fighting back the pain. The monster stood on its back legs, preparing itself to lung forward, right onto Sawamura, squishing him. Praying it would work, the paladin gathered magic left in him – _it hurt, gods, it hurt so much!_ – and threw his sword right in the place where monster's heart should be. The blade wasn't steal anymore; it was black, gleaming with a deadly curse, though Sawamura didn't remember charming it that way. He let that last ounce of magic left in him guide himself, guide the sword, bearing the pain of using more power.

The beast roared again, louder this time. Its eyes rolled back, blood poured from place where handle of the sword was sticking out... and then it slowly fell onto its side. The ground shook and Sawamura fell down too. He didn't even have strength to support himself: he fell flatly onto his face.

Then, as if someone switched something on, Sawamura started screaming.

The magic was ripping through him, his nerves were burning. There was a hole inside his chest sucking the _life_ out of him. For some reason, the rings around his arms weren't disappearing, but were getting stronger, feeding on his life force. He tried to move, to _breath_ , but breathing hurt, everything hurt.

There was his... his someone running to him. Through the enormous pain, Sawamura felt a grain of sadness of losing something precious. They didn't even have a chance to meet properly. But it was too late, everything was too late.

Feeling how his heart was stopping, Sawamura was fully aware that he was dying: almost burned to a crisp, killed by his own magic.

And then that hole swallowed him whole.

* * *

It was dark outside, when Sawamura woke up. His limbs felt heavy, as if he were underwater, and his mind was clouded.

It was hard to focus on anything else than the rhythmic beating of his heart. That sound was calming down something within him, although he couldn't understand why and what.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

He was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room. It was big, surrounded by white walls, and set of beds standing close to each other. It looked a bit like hospital. But why would Sawamura be in one?

Then memories crashed into him like a wave: the beast, his magic behaving like it had had mind of its own, the rain of arrows around him –

– and the cold feeling of dying.

Sawamura's breath quickened, body felt hot and cold at the same time. He _died_. He knew it. He was sure of it, as much as he was sure about his name. Sawamura remembered – if a faint echo of losing everything could be called a memory –his heart stopping in mid beat, lungs refusing to take another breath...

But that hadn't been everything, had it?

Sawamura looked down at his bandaged arms, lying on the soft sheets, with unseeing eyes.

He remembered more than that. He remembered someone's magic pushing at him, wanting him to take it – and it all would be wrong if that magic hadn't feel like his own already. Sawamura's brows furrowed at that thought, the muscles in his face hurting when he did that, but he barely paid any mind to that.

There was that strange person close to him, wasn't it? Sawamura remembered that his-but-not-quite-his magic going frantic from worry when he had fallen down, he could remember someone's voice calling for him...

"Eijun!"

Sawamura could barely register someone's voice calling his name, before he got crushed in a hug. Pink hair tickled his nose.

"H-Haruichi?" Sawamura tried to say, but everything what he managed was a quiet growl. How long hadn't he been speaking?

The small lancer moved back a little, his hands shaking on Sawamura's shoulders. He was pale and there were dark bags under his eyes; it didn't take a genius to say that he hadn't been sleeping well.

"We were so worried about you!" Haruichi's voice was shaking as much as his palms were. "Wait, I'll give you some water."

"I'll do it." When Sawamura wasn't looking, too focused on Haruichi, Kanemaru walked to the bed, with Furuya moving behind him, and promptly poured water from a bottle to the glass standing on the bedside table.

Sawamura tried to raise his hand to take it, but the arm barely moved. Eyes widening a little, he tried to move both of his arms: he could raise them a little, but that was all.

Haruichi's fingers wrapped themselves around Sawamura's wrist.

"Don't. Panic." He said slowly and only then Sawamura realized how much his breath had quickened. "Your hands got burned pretty b-badly."

Without a word of complaining or teasing Kanemaru brought the glass to Sawamura's lips and tipped it back. Sawamura drank greedily, not caring about it at all. In that moment that cool water tasted like heaven, smoothing his dry throat. Instantly, he felt a lot better. Still kind of weird, as if _detached_ from everything what was happening around him, but at least his body felt better if the mind didn't.

"Burned?" Sawamura whispered then coughed a few times. He... yes he remembered that. He remembered the magic feeding on him, burning him alive inside and outside. "But they will be fine?"

"Miss Rei says so," Furuya murmured.

With a surprised expression, Sawamura realized that Furuya tried to look everywhere, the walls, the other but at him. Why?

He looked at the faces of his... well, friends, noticing different mixes of worry, sadness, and something else. He couldn't put his hand on what that something was, and, to be honest, with his thoughts trying to wander back to thinking about that unknown magic, Sawamura didn't really feel like guessing.

The next few minutes they spent in silent. Kanemaru filled another glass of water, but this time Sawamura insisted on drinking it alone. After a few more unsuccessful attempts at raising his hands and grabbing the glass, he was finally able to hold the half-filled glass.

The whole time, Furuya was looking at his shoes, refusing to stand closer, while Kanemaru was lingering behind Haruichi, who seemed to be the only one who wanted to sit next to Sawamura.

What was going on?

"What happened?" Sawamura had never been known to be subtle. "You're all acting weird."

The three of warriors looked at each other, only confirming Sawamura's suspicious. There _was_ something going on.

"Eijun... Do you remember what happened?" Haruichi asked gently.

Sawamura furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the window and the moon high in the sky. He had a sudden thought that maybe he should have notified a nurse – were there even nurses in this place? – that he woke up, but Haruichi's question made him unable to focus on anything else.

He remembered dying, but that couldn't be what Haruichi was asking about, right? Sawamura remembered the beast, but how had it appeared on the exam field?

"... The summoner, Zono, summoned a beast," he said finally and Haruichi nodded. His peach-colored eyes were looking at Sawamura expectantly. "And I... killed it?" Something told Sawamura it wouldn't be too smart to say even a word about that other magic presence. "I'm not sure how, though."

His arms and back were starting to hurt, yet he couldn't focus on that or even voice that thought aloud. Was there something wrong with him?

Kanemaru breathed aloud with a swish _._

"Sawamura, you used a summoners' spell to stop that beast!" He raised his voice, throwing his arms up. There was _fear_ on his face and that hurt. Should it hurt? Sawamura wasn't sure. "How can you not know what you have done?!"

Furuya laid his hand on Kanemaru's shoulder.

"Behave." For a few long second both warriors were watching each other, but Kanemaru was the first to drop his gaze down.

"Thank you, Furuya-nini." Haruichi's light tone of voice was clearly forced. "But see, Eijun..." The teenager stopped, looking for appropriate words.

He reminded Sawamura about his friends back at home, who had always resisted like that before saying something what could upset Sawamura. Like when Sawamura's little dog had been hit by a wagon. Sawamura had been seven years old then; he remembered crying for days after that accident had happened.

— was Haruichi saying something?

"— Professors said it sometimes happen. You know, that the child receives parents' magic." They were all looking at him, expecting something. Not knowing what to do, Sawamura nodded. It seemed they were waiting for that, because Haruichi continued his tale. "But people got scared, Eijun. You summoned too much power and you couldn't control it, and –"

"It killed me." Sawamura finished, not noticing how his friends shivered. "I could easily kill someone else, right?"

"Y-yeah," admitted Kanemaru after a long pause. "No, wait, I mean no! Just hurt us. You..." he gulped, waving his hand at Sawamura, "you... got hurt like that, because the magic was concentrated."

Sawamura nodded again. He really didn't understand that, but nodding was the best way to make everyone keep talking. He didn't feel so detached, as if there was someone else under his skin, when listening to the voices of his friends.

They were looking at each other again and a shiver ran down Sawamura's spine. There was more to that tale, he could tell that.

Yet, Haruichi started talking again without Sawamura prompting him to do so.

"The last few days... Eijun, it was chaos. Professors and the headmaster were talking for hours in a closed room, people were trying to come here..."

"It was pissing miss Rei off," Furuya interrupted. "She threw us away too."

Sawamura's friends had been sitting with him? A warm, nice feeling spread through his chest. He almost forgot how it was to feel happy.

"Anyway," Haruichi glared a little at Furuya, "Professor Ochiai was very clear about how he wants you out of the Gild."

That information was like a bucket of cold water.

"What?!" Sawamura yelled, his hands curling into fists. "I didn't do anything wrong!" Sawamura's magic raised its head despite his best efforts to keep it down.

"Eijun, calm down!" This time Kanemaru grabbed Sawamura by his wrist – gently, but firmly – and the magic immediately calmed down.

Oh, right. Lancers could calm down other peoples magic.

"Everyone else thinks you saved us all and they are fucking right." Kanemaru growled, clearly pissed off, but not at Sawamura. "The beast's magic interfered with the shield. We could have died there, before professors would be able to take it down."

"... No one takes Ochiai seriously." Furuya said, his fingers stroking bowstring of the bow on his back. "Everyone passed exam, you included."

"Furuya, I think Eijun has better things to worry about –"

But Sawamura only laughed, suddenly feeling euphoria filling him.

"No, it's okay!" He shifted against pillows, silly smile spreading on his face. "Good to hear some good news. So, when I can leave this room and practice with you all?" Sawamura looked expectantly at his friends, who in turn quickly looked down again.

There were good at doing that. Had they been practicing it when Sawamura was asleep?

"Miss Rei said you need to stay here a few days more." Kanemaru got suddenly very interested in the view behind the window.

Well, the moon was pretty, Sawamura supposed, but that wasn't the reason why Kanemaru avoided his gaze, right? And look, Furuya was counting tiles on the floor again.

What was going on?

"You went into magic shock," Haruichi said slowly, obviously carefully choosing every word. "Your body needs time to heal from it... and your shoulder..." Haruichi stopped talking, casting a quick glance at Furuya.

"What about my shoulder?" Sawamura asked, moving slightly his shoulders. The left one started to hurt a little. "I don't remember injuring it."

Which would be funny considering he remembered being burned alive by _his own_ _fucking magic_ if only both thing weren't so gruesome.

Furuya slowly raised his head, his gaze falling at the wall above Sawamura's head.

"... You got hit by an arrow," he mumbled, barely moving his lips.

"I got hit by an arrow?" Sawamura was puzzled. By claws of the monster? Sure. By that long tail? Yup, that would be right too. "I don't remember that. Who... why would someone do that?"

Furuya shifted uncomfortably, looking away from Sawamura. Kanemaru and Haruichi looked at each other, before moving their gazes back at Sawamura, whose insides turned cold. Of course.

Sawamura distantly remembered thinking that Furuya had been shooting the beast. With his speed, he could make that monster focus on him instead of Sawamura; he had been hurting the monster so quickly and with little pause between attacks that the beast hadn't realized Sawamura was close 'till it was too late.

"Furuya?" Sawamura propped himself up on his elbow, smothering a groan of pain and biting his lip. What was he supposed to say? "Was that you...?"

The archer nodded, his head hanging down.

"My control isn't the best," he admitted quietly. "I miscalculated the distance and –" Furuya stopped.

He looked so sad and miserable Sawamura wanted to reach for him and comfort him.

Realizing both Kanemaru and Haruichi were looking at him expectantly, Sawamura said the first thing he could think about:

"We were all fighting, right? You tried to help and –" The rest of the sentence was interrupted by the sound of heels coming from the corridor.

"Oh shit..." Kanemaru moaned. "We're in trouble."

Haruichi didn't even bother with scolding Kanemaru for cursing, which meant that they were indeed in trouble. But why? Could that be Ochiai, ready to kick them all out?

... No, it couldn't be Ochiai. Sawamura knew the aura of the person walking towards them: it was quiet, like a lull, giving away a faint smell of herbs.

Kanemaru's mumbled " _she's going to kill us_ " only confirmed Sawamura's suspicious.

In less than a second, miss Rei entered the room. She was dressed in yellow robes of a head of healers holding a tray with a few glass bottles. Her magic was buzzing around her, but it calmed down, just like the scowl on her face disappeared, when she looked at Sawamura's friends.

"I should have known it was _you_ ," she sighed, her shoes making a clicking sound while she was walking towards Sawamura's bed. "You couldn't wait till morning to see him." Somehow it didn't sound like a question.

"We thought we could visit him, since he finally woke up and all." Kanemaru smiled at miss Rei in a way which showed he had used that smile before to avoid consequences.

Miss Rei didn't looked mollified though.

"Which means you were lurking in corridors instead of going to sleep like I ordered you to." She said sternly, as she put the tray down on Sawamura's bedside table. "I should give you all a detention." Miss Rei said with a gleam in her eyes, folding her hands on her chest.

All three friends were looking properly scolded. Normally, Sawamura would giggle at such picture, but now his mind couldn't stop thinking about Furuya. The archer was looking more sorry for hurting Sawamura than for breaking an order from one of professors.

"We are sorry, miss Rei." Haruichi's shoulders dropped. "We just needed to see him."

Miss Rei stopped, brows furrowing; she smiled sadly at them all.

"Sawamura made us all worry, didn't he?" Her gaze was calm, when she looked at Sawamura, but he could see even she had been worrying about him. "As you see he is all right, so go back to sleep."

The three of them nodded.

"We are very sorry, miss Rei." Kanemaru added.

Sawamura blinked hearing those words and shook his head to clear his mind a little. For some reason, it was getting harder to focus on everything happening around him.

"Furuya!" Furuya stopped in middle of bowing to miss Rei. "It wasn't your fault, you know it, right?"

It was important for Furuya to understand that. Sawamura couldn't understand that, but in that one moment, it was the most important in the world: to make Furuya realize Sawamura wasn't angry at him.

Furuya straightened and nodded, but he still wasn't looking at Sawamura. It made him growl in frustration; he was only partially aware of miss Rei's hand gently touching his shoulder.

"Don't just nod at me!" Sawamura almost screamed. "I survived thanks to you and –"A sudden realization why Furuya could refuse listening to Sawamura made him feel sick. Speaking next words felt as if someone was tearing them off from Sawamura's throat. "... My magic had been killing me, before you started to shoot the beast. Your arrow had nothing to do with… that."

That was true and somehow Sawamura was sure about it: his magic had fought him from the moment he started using the summoner's spell.

Hearing Sawamura's words, Furuya looked at him, his eyes wide, face pale, lips trembling. Without saying anything, Furuya turned around and practically fled quickly from the room, but not quick enough for everyone to not see how his shoulders started shaking.

"We will go too." Haruichi grabbed Kanemaru by his sleeve, threw Sawamura a last smile and then they were gone too.

Sawamura fell back on the pillows again, suddenly exhausted.

"That wasn't very tactful." Rei noticed. Her palm disappeared from Sawamura's shoulder and she took one of bottles. "How are you feeling?"

Sawamura blinked, thinking more about this question that probably it was worth. How was he feeling? Tired. Overwhelmed.

Different.

"My back hurts," he said finally.

"Sit and let me check it." Miss Rei waited till Sawamura sat back again, before sitting behind him and pushing his shirt up.

Sawamura hissed, when she touched his left shoulder. The palm moved back for a moment; when miss Rei touched him again her hand was wonderfully cool against his skin.

"This is a healing spell, right?" Sawamura asked, finding similarities between the spell miss Rei used and one of his father.

"Yes. You shoulder was in very bad state," she said quietly. "I understand that your friends told you why."

"Furuya shot me." Sawamura's hands clenched on the duvet. "But why don't I remember it?" He asked with frustration.

For the exam Furuya had brought his special archery bow, which means that Sawamura had been shot by half-meter long arrow. By all means, he should have died. One of those arrows is enough to kill a smaller beast.

Miss Rei tugged at the bandages around Sawamura's torso.

"The magic around you was too thick for that arrow to kill you." She explained, perfectly understanding what Sawamura as truly asking about. "Which is also a reason why you got burnt so badly."

Sawamura raised his arms slightly to help miss Rei with taking off the bandage from him.

"...They said I used summoners' powers. But that shouldn't be possible, right?"

Sawamura needed miss Rei to say "yes". He didn't want to be labeled as some kind of a freak right on the first day of the school. Being able to sense a magician through his whole life was enough.

Miss Rei was strangely quiet, while she was preparing a balm from whatever-it-was in those glass bottles. She started talking, once she started putting balm on his burned skin, probably to take Sawamura's mind from the pain.

"Your mom is a summoner. It's rare for a child to inherit its parent's powers, but it happens."

"But I can't be a summoner like mom. I didn't send that monster back. I killed it." Sawamura protested, hissing slightly when miss Rei put balm on the small of his back.

"Yes, but you weakened it down with a summoner's incantation. With proper training, you may be able to summon weaker beasts and control them," Miss Rei explained patiently. "You showed an astounding amount of magical powers and you saved many people." She took a cotton ball smelling strongly of herbs and pressed it against a wound under Sawamura's right shoulder blade.

Despite being tired and confused more than he would be ever able to describe it, Sawamura felt his cheeks growing hot.

"Everyone was helping, you know? That monster would have killed me easily, if I didn't get any help."

"That's true." Rei put down the cotton ball and took out a fresh set of bandages. Sawamura tried his best to not hiss in pain when the material touched very sensitive skin on his back. "I'm sure this one exam is going to be written down in history books." The magician's tone was light and Sawamura felt himself relaxing for the first time since he had woken up.

Rei was working quickly on wounds on Sawamura's back. Only now could Sawamura feel that it really was the highest time to change bandages; the balm Rei was putting on his back was sweetly numbing the pain, causing Sawamura to breath in relief.

"Are you okay?" Rei asked, alarmed, her hands stopping.

"No, I'm fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Sawamura pointed at his back, swallowing. Actually, there was something that was not quite right with him, but he didn't know how to talk about it. "Miss Rei?"

"Hmm?" she murmured, putting more that herb oil on the wound caused by Furuya's arrow.

"Is it normal to feel...? Ah, never mind!" Sawamura shook his head, embarrassed. It was one thing to cry over characters in a romance book and another thing to talk about his feelings.

Unfortunately, miss Rei didn't want to let go of the subject.

"Feel how? My oil should help you... Did that balm hurt you?"

"No, I meant..." Sawamura could feel that his cheeks were on fire. "I am... I'm not feeling quite like myself."

"Ah, that." Rei chuckled quietly, her hands going back to work on Sawamura's back. "You are much more quiet than normally, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah," Sawamura admitted, thinking about how much of a fool he had made of himself when they had first met. Of course miss Rei would remember him as a loud kid, wouldn't she? "It's like I'm not complete? I don't know how to explain it," he growled in frustration, clenching his fists together.

Miss Rei chuckled again.

"You see, Sawamura, because summoners can get into contact with beings from a different reality," Rei started talking in a tone that Sawamura immediately labelled as her teaching voice, "their feelings often get messed up. It usually takes them from one hour up even a whole day to make them feel back like themselves. You're not a proper summoner and you were badly injured, which is why you may still be feeling differently. I'm sure after a night of sleep, with your wounds almost healed, will do you lot of good."

Sawamura nodded, feeling oddly relieved that there was at least one rule he hadn't broken. He remembered that his mother was often going to sleep after performing a summon. Was it because she had preferred to not wait to get better? Funny, but Sawamura almost didn't notice that he wasn't behaving like always. Only when miss Rei had complimented him, had he sensed that something was wrong. Usually, one compliment was enough to make him laugh in delight, but that time he barely reacted at all.

"I'll come back and change the bandages on your arms in the evening, so I'll leave them for now." Miss Rei stood up and reached for the towel to dry her hands. "Unless they hurt you...?"

Sawamura wiggled his fingers. True, his arms hurt before, but the pain almost disappeared. Maybe they only hurt because he hadn't been using those muscles for a while?

"No, I'm fine." Sawamura smiled, feeling a little bit more like his old self.

"That's good. I'll leave you a sleeping mixture," she took one of bottles from the tray and left it on the bedside table, "but I'd like you to try to fall asleep without its help."

Sawamura nodded, remembering how his father used to ask his patients for the same thing. The less mixtures and pills a body needed, the better.

"I'll try," he promised.

"Good." Miss Rei smiled back at him; a true, real smile. "I'll explain more in the morning, but let me tell you now that if you ever again scare me like this, I'll personally kick you back to your village, got it?" The scent of herbs got stronger in the room, when miss Rei's magic rose, furious and helpless at the same time. "You scared me to death."

Sawamura gulped. It was never good to have a powerful magician being mad at you.

"B-but I don't even know when the whole trance thing started!" He yelled, shifting back on the bed as if that could help him. "I swear on my paladin's honour!"

"You're not a paladin yet." Miss Rei rolled her eyes and then reached for him. Sawamura closed his eyes, expecting something like his grandpa's sights of 'tough love' but everything miss Rei did was to gently pat his hair. "But you will be. Don't let me down, Eijun."

Sawamura's eyes opened when he heard his name.

"Yes, miss Rei!" He yelled, saluting almost without a thought.

Miss Rei stopped in the door though, looking at him with small smile.

"It's _professor_ Rei now, Sawamura. Try to rest." She closed the door behind her and Sawamura realized he was nodding to empty air.

He laid on his stomach, looking at the moon high in the sky, his head still strangely calm. Sawamura supposed it was still the effect from using his summoners' powers. He had a feeling he was going to be much less calm about everything that had happened – he had _died,_ for Shiva's sake – but for now, he could enjoy this lull.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you everyone for you comments and bookmarks. I hope you will like this chapter; don't be afraid to talk to me about it ;)

* * *

 **Chapter II**

"This is madness, even for you."

Miyuki didn't even bother with answering. Mei had been saying that, from the moment he had smuggled Miyuki into the Gild's hospital wing. After the fifteenth time, Miyuki almost stopped noticing those words.

"And you won't bother to tell me why you even need to see that punk," Mei growled, his voice sounding like he was pouting.

They were sneaking through the empty, dark corridors, carefully monitoring every corner and turn. It wouldn't be pretty, if any guards found them. Miyuki doubted they would get kicked out from their respective schools – they were hailed geniuses by almost everyone and not without a reason – but there were other ways to punish them. Not to mention Miyuki would probably have to explain why he needed to see one of paladins of Gild.

With every step Miyuki felt he was closer to the paladin.

To Sawamura.

Sawamura's magic was weak, but stable. It was moving, calling for Miyuki, unlike when Sawamura –

"Shit!" Mei's hand shot sideways. He caught Miyuki's sleeve and pulled them back, before they could take a turn.

In the first moment, Miyuki didn't know why Mei did it, but then he felt it: herbs and a rich scent of ground after rain. Rei was close.

Shit.

Miyuki stood close to the walls, listening to the sound of Rei's shoes. He knew his charm to suppress his and Mei's magical auras was good, but if Rei deliberately started to look for intruders, then they would be screwed. In a place like Gild, which was filled with protective charms and curses, it was difficult to cast any counter-spell to hide one's identity.

This is why Miyuki had asked Mei to observe the guards last night: to plan when it would be the best moment to sneak into Sawamura's room.

Miyuki held his breath when Rei's steps slowed down and he hoped she wasn't searching for any magicians. Thankfully, after a second or two of pure horror, she started to walk in the opposite direction. Both Miyuki and Mei sighed with relief.

Yet, it was suspicious how little guards were patrolling the hospital wing. Considering how much chaos Sawamura's performance created, one would think the Gild would try to protect the kid better while he was in coma. It wasn't like anyone would try to assassinate the kid, but people were curious.

The first thing Miyuki heard from Mei, after waking up full one day after the encounter with the demon, had been that curious students had been kicked out from the hospital wing for disturbing Sawamura's rest. Looking at Mei's pout, Miyuki was guessing he had been one of those who were kicked out too.

Mei's eyes bright with magic turned to Miyuki.

"Go to him, Kazuya. You have twenty minutes, before guards will come here."

Miyuki nodded, thankful that his friend wasn't pressing him to say why he needed to see Sawamura. No; Mei just had sighed tiredly, when he had heard Miyuki's idea, complained about how lack of sleep isn't good for a warrior, and then had helped Miyuki to get inside the Wing. Even if his complaining could suggest something else, Mei wasn't looking to receiving answers. Not yet anyways

And it wasn't like Miyuki had any answers to give him. For Shiva's tits, he barely understood this situation himself.

Miyuki hesitated in front of the doors. He would finally talk with the person whom's presence he had been feeling his whole life. If he was honest with himself – and that didn't happen too often – Miyuki would say he was afraid of what could happen. There weren't many possibilities about why they could feel each other, why their magic auras were pulling them to the other, and every of those possibilities was worse than the other.

Well. No backing down now.

Feeling Mei's gaze on his back, Miyuki opened the heavy, wooden doors. It didn't make a sound, for which Miyuki was glad. With his magical powers wanting to move to the paladin and his own thoughts occupied with it, he completely forgot about charming hinges. Good thing none of his professors saw him making that mistake.

Miyuki slipped into the room, quietly closing the door behind himself.

It was a standard hospital room for students with a few beds and badly painted walls. Normally, he would look around himself, but that time his gaze was immediately pulled to the person lying on a bed under the window.

Miyuki took a slow, deep breath, before taking a tentative step towards the paladin's bedside. Sawamura was lying motionless on his back, his hands, covered in bandages, were resting on the duvet. He was alive, Miyuki could feel his magic, his own was singing. Sawamura's chest was moving up and down with his every breath, his magical aura slowly getting stronger.

He was alive.

Maybe, finally, Miyuki would be able to stop seeing Sawamura's empty, death eyes every time he closed his own.

Sawamura stirred on the bed and Miyuki moved back, hiding in shadows. The paladin turned his head on the pillow, looking into Miyuki's direction, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Of course. With how their magic was reacting to each others, there was no way Miyuki could hide himself without disturbing the Gild's protective charms.

"I know you're there," Sawamura whispered. His voice was rough ( _burned internal organs, burned cords, burned – stop!_ ), but he didn't sound too tired. "You..." Sawamura gulped, obviously not knowing what else he could say.

Well, there was no need to pretend.

Miyuki left the safe arms of the shadows, stepping into the moonlight again. Sawamura's eyes widened, when he saw Miyuki, a big smile spread on his lips.

"I didn't imagine you," he said like in awe, that silly smile getting bigger than it was anatomically possible. "You're real."

"Yeah." Miyuki walked closer towards Sawamura's bed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

He didn't know what to say or do. He had been curious about the kid and he needed – his magic needed to see the paladin. Miyuki actually had to use all the tricks he knew about controlling powers in order to not let his magical aura spill all over the floor.

And there was also a matter of his nightmares. Nightmares where Sawamura didn't start breathing again, nightmares where the beast eats him alive, nightmares where Miyuki's powers _killed_ Sawamura and he couldn't do anything to stop that.

To make things worse, Sawamura's powers were answering his own, bringing back the memory of feeling _right_ when they had joined together to fight the monster.

But, at the same time, that memory was tainted by something much more terrifying.

Sawamura sat on the bed slowly, wincing when he moved his left shoulder. Before he knew what he was doing Miyuki was at Sawamura's side, looking at him with concern.

"Does it hurt?" he asked before realizing how lame it sounded. Of course it still hurt, Miyuki Kazuya, you idiot!

"Only a little," Sawamura admitted, still looking at Miyuki as in dazed. His smile faltered a little. "It's not like I mind you visiting... but err... who are you exactly?"

"Miyuki Kazuya, the second year magician." Miyuki said. He felt stupid hovering above Sawamura, but at the same time his magic strongly disagree with him leaving Sawamura's side to bring himself a chair.

"You can... um... sit here." Sawamura pat the edge of the bed. "I –"

"You what?" Miyuki asked, furrowing. Was Sawamura going to say something about their magical auras?

There was a pout forming on Sawamura's face and it looked so Mei-like, Miyuki almost gaped.

"... I prefer when people look me in the eyes."

It took Miyuki a second to process that information. When he realized the true meaning behind Sawamura's words, he started to laugh and sat on the bed, without thinking.

"You don't like when people look down on you? What are you? Five?" Miyuki laughed harder, muffling his laughter with his hands.

Sawamura went red.

"S-shut up! You shouldn't laugh at a patient!" He punched Miyuki's shoulder lightly.

Shiver ran down Miyuki's spine at that contact. Sawamura gasped quietly, moving his hand back immediately, surprised. They were staring at each other for long seconds, their magic auras buzzing like bees.

"You felt that." It wasn't a question.

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Miyuki mumbled.

Sawamura bristled at that.

"If you are going to be awful –" The rest of Sawamura's sentence was drowned in a fit of cough.

He doubled over the bed, coughing so hard as if he tried to cough out his lungs. Remembering all lessons about medicine he had ever taken, Miyuki grabbed Sawamura's shoulders, but Sawamura brushed Miyuki's hand aside already gleaming with a healing spell.

"I... I'm alright." He cough again.

"It doesn't look alright to me," Miyuki growled, still holding Sawamura close to himself. He could feel the bandages all around Sawamura's torso under that standard hospital shirt and he immediately felt bad again. "I can call –"

"No, I'm really fine." Sawamura took a deep breath, his cheeks suspiciously red. He looked up at Miyuki, embarrassed. "I swallowed spit wrong way."

Miyuki felt torn between laughing and cursing. In the end, he decided to swat Sawamura's head.

"You scared the shit out of me." Miyuki mumbled, swatting Sawamura's head again just because. "There are better ways to kill yourself."

The moment those words left his lips, Miyuki realized his mistake. Sawamura froze in his arms (should he move away?), his face suddenly pale, hands gripping the duvet tight. His magic rose up abruptly, scared and hurt.

"Sawamura... Eijun, calm down." Miyuki turned the paladin towards himself, but it was as if Sawamura didn't hear him.

He was breathing hard, his magic moving like crazy. Sawamura's eyes were wide open and even if he was looking at Miyuki, he wasn't _seeing_ Miyuki. It didn't take a genius to realize that the kid was experiencing a panic attack.

Knowing he had to act quickly, before Sawamura's unstable magic will alert guards, Miyuki did the only thing he could think about.

He let his magic go.

As a starved man, his magic lapped onto Sawamura's. It swirled around Sawamura's magical aura and both of them gasped when their powers touched each other. A wave of warmth spread throughout Miyuki's body; it felt good to have Sawamura's powers so close to his own, to feel him in a way which was unavailable for other people.

Sawamura's powers were alive, moving along with Miyuki's powers on their own. It would be so easy to just close his eyes and let his mind drift in the magic till the end of the world.

Miyuki's stomach clenched at the implication of why their magic powers reacted this way without any help in the form of a spell of dark creatures. Yet, now he chose to focus on Sawamura, who was still shaking in his arms, but less now, his breath slowing down.

Magic was whispering sweetly around them, moving less and less like two dancers who decided to leave the floor, but their hands were still connected. Their combined powers wrapped themselves around them like a blanket and for the first time in a long, long time Miyuki felt _alive._

"Are you better now?" he asked quietly, awkwardly stroking Sawamura's back.

Miyuki wasn't too fond of being touchy-feely with people he barely knew, but something inside of him was making him sick at the thought of leaving Sawamura in distress. The paladin nodded, but he didn't move back. If anything, he seemed to cling to Miyuki with his magic and Miyuki was slowly coming to a conclusion that he didn't mind it that much.

 _His own_ was close to him and his magic felt whole for the first time since that fight with the beast. _Miyuki_ felt whole.

Gods, he was in deep shit, wasn't he?

* * *

Sawamura counted to ten in his head, before slowly letting go of Miyuki. He was embarrassed by his own behavior – a paladin shouldn't behave like that, right?

It made Sawamura feel warm inside when he had thought about how Miyuki had released his magic. Sawamura wasn't the best at reading the magic auras of other people, but somehow he was able to see that Miyuki had been forcing himself earlier to keep his magic close to himself. That touch of their magic powers was what managed to calm Sawamura down. It felt familiar and comforting like being hugged by a mother.

"… Thank you." Sawamura whispered, looking down. "I felt your magic before, didn't I? When I… when I fought the beast." Sawamura was proud that his voice didn't shake much. "What exactly happened there?" Sawamura couldn't explain how he knew it, but he was sure Miyuki had answers to his questions.

Miyuki was quiet for a moment before answering, his fingers absentmindedly playing with one of last visible strings of their connected magic.

"You... you unconsciously asked for my magic. I responded to your call, but you didn't take it. I used more powers, removing your protective barriers." He stopped for a moment obviously preparing himself to say something difficult. "It's... it's my fault that you're in the hospital. I gave you too much power. If I noticed you didn't realize you were asking for magic, I wouldn't have used so much power and it wouldn't have hurt you this badly. And your shoulder..." Miyuki was obviously uncomfortable, but apparently decided to be brave and say everything because he was continuing speaking "By taking down your barriers, I distracted your magic and you got hit by that arrow."

"But... you couldn't just force yourself on me!" Sawamura was speechless. It wasn't possible to force someone to use your magic; hell, most people couldn't share each other magic!

Miyuki's back stiffened and he moved back, almost falling from the bed, and Sawamura realized what he had just said.

"Do you mean I violated you?" That empty tone was more horrific than if Miyuki yelled at him. He sounded so... broken.

"No!" Sawamura yelled, terrified. "No, I just... I used the wrong words, honestly!"

No, nothing was fine. he wasn't supposed to take Miyuki's magic, he wasn't even supposed to need that magic in the first place!

"If you say so." But Miyuki didn't move back closer and Sawamura suddenly felt empty too.

"Yes, I-I'm sorry." Sawamura was starting to feel tired to deal with everything.

Honestly, all he wanted to do at the moment was to curl up under a duvet and sleep for the next millennia. And maybe when he woke up, things would make sense again.

Miyuki sighed and stood up.

"I need to go," he whispered, looking at the door. "My time is almost up."

"But..!" Sawamura almost jumped on the bed, something inside his head was telling him that he shouldn't let Miyuki go now, not yet. "But we still need to talk!"

"I'm afraid he doesn't have time to talk, kid."

Sawamura looked at the door, surprised. There was standing a blond teenager; he looked familiar, but Sawamura couldn't say where he could have met him before.

"We need to go, before the guards will come here." The stranger said and Miyuki nodded, moving away from Sawamura.

It made their powers break the contact; Sawamura took a sharp breath at that and Miyuki freeze mid-step, a surprised expression colouring his features. It hurt to feel how Miyuki was walking away from him, leaving him alone; did that hurt Miyuki too?

Sawamura told himself he was behaving like an idiot, wishing that a guy he had just met a few minutes earlier could stay with him. But his chest still hurt and he wanted... He needed...

Sawamura wished Miyuki's face wasn't hid in shadow. He didn't understand what was going on with him, from where those strange feelings were coming from. His gaze fell on Miyuki's shoulders, those warm arms which were holding him not so long ago and he whimpered, both in longing and in frustration.

"Kazuya, we have to go, now." The blond shook Miyuki's shoulder.

Miyuki turned to the stranger and at the same it was like someone pushed Sawamura out of a trace. He shook his head, thoughts swirling chaotically. What was happening to him?

"I… I'll try to contact you soon. Rest."

Miyuki's voice was strained, his posture more straightened than it should be possible – and then he was gone, walking quickly from the room, Mei following him closely.

The knight stopped at the door frame though, looking at Sawamura from above his shoulder; his blue eyes were gleaming with magic.

"You're not that bad, you know?"

Then he was gone too.

Sawamura did fall back on the bed then, not sure what to think about anything. He could still feel Miyuki's presence, the taste of his magic, that power surging through him, the warmth and that feeling of rightness when Miyuki was so close.

A sudden yawning caught him off guard. Excitement provided by Miyuki's visit - but why had he felt any excitement at all, he just met Miyuki - was quickly fading, leaving Sawamura tired beyond words, his body reminding him about the tool it had taken earlier this day.

Not even a half minute later, Sawamura was asleep, not realizing that a lingering touch of Miyuki's magic, left by the magician in the room, wrapped itself around him, helping him rest.

* * *

"That was stupid, you idiot!" Mei growled when they finally stopped flying down the stairs, trying to run as far from the guards as it was possible. "The whole floor could feel your connected magic!"

"I didn't do it on purpose!" Miyuki hissed, feeling how all negative emotions from the past few days were making him feel even more annoyed. "He had a panic attack and I needed to do something."

Mei looked at Miyuki with a closed expression that he couldn't read.

"You risked a lot for one kid, Miyuki." He said finally, his blue eyes all too knowing. "It sounds so not like you, I can't help but wonder..."

"Leave it, Mei." Miyuki said, tiredly. "Just leave it."

Miyuki closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the cool wall. But Mei was right; Miyuki risked his place in Oasis just to check on a kid he didn't even know.

He remembered all too well the void he had found himself in, when Sawamura had fallen down after the monster had been killed. It was like something sucked the air out from the planet, as if Miyuki was the last one person who remained alive... He had run to Sawamura, only to see him lying lifeless on his side, wide eyes empty, body badly burned, chest not moving. The paladin magic was frozen, not giving out feeling of warmth, and the reality of why it had been that way hit Miyuki like a punch.

That was why he had come to Sawamura's room and talk with him instead of just checking if he was all right. Miyuki couldn't leave that room, when he had seen Sawamura lying so motionless on the hospital's bed, as if he was dead again.

Dead. Sawamura had been dead, but the medics had managed to barely save him. Miyuki didn't want to think how close a call it had been: if medics had been only a second late, if he hadn't fed Sawamura more of his power while medics were working on him... Miyuki would feel more awful about it if Sawamura's body hadn't taken his magic like a spoon, helping medics regenerate its owner's body.

"You know," Mei started. Clearly, some gods hated Miyuki. "You didn't tell me yet how you were able to send that kid magic. Almost like a battery –"

"Don't be stupid," Miyuki snorted, turning around to face Mei. His insides actually turned into ice at the word "battery", but that possibility would be ridiculous, even if Miyuki had thought about it too.

"Magical echo." Miyuki blurted, closing his palms into fists. "The paladin used magical echo. His summoner powers called the closest, most powerful source of magic and it was me."

Mei's expression was clearly saying that he didn't believe Miyuki, but Miyuki didn't care. There was no such thing as a "battery". Myths were myths for a reason: they weren't real. There were no batteries, no charms to create humans, and no flowers to bring back the dead. Miyuki learned all of that the hard way.

He didn't believe in fairytales and didn't want to start now.

Miyuki was actually glad though that Sawamura hadn't asked why their magic joined each other. He had still been in summoners' "shock time", when Miyuki had visited him. Miyuki didn't even try to lie to himself; seeing how interested Sawamura had become after their magic auras connected, it would be better if Miyuki had a ready explanation about the weird behaviour of their magic.

And maybe... just maybe there really wasn't anything weird in their connection. After all, Sawamura hadn't mentioned feeling Miyuki's presence, since he had been a kid, and that's a question that definitely needed to be asked. Did Sawamura not feel him or was he still too detached from the reality to ask about that?

Mei sighed, but didn't argue any further for which Miyuki was glad.

"Let's go, you useless magician, we can't stay here for the whole night." Mei's eyes scanned corridors behind them. "Guards are close by. We should go back to the dorms."

"You're right." Miyuki pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, his muscles actually protesting. It was the highest time for him to rest.

He had used a lot of magic power in the past few days and not only to help Sawamura; he had been casting curses at the shield too. That thought made him scowl inwardly. His spells hadn't been as effective as he would have liked them to be. If he had gotten ambushed by such beast, he would surely have ended up dead. Tomorrow's morning, he was going to bury himself in the library; forget about classes, he had spells to learn!

Mei snorted, seeing how Miyuki was wincing.

"Come here, you weakling." The knight took Miyuki by his shoulder, pulling him closer and making Miyuki lean against him. "You can sleep in my room tonight. You're not in any shape to go alone to Oasis."

"Awww, so you do love me, Mei!" Miyuki chuckled, nudging Mei with his elbow.

With his eyes still gleaming with magic, it was easy to see how Mei rolled them.

"Keep dreaming, magician. There is a carpet in my room with your name embroidered on it." Mei grinned, adjusting his grip on Miyuki. "You could stop eating desserts, you know?"

It was worth almost falling on his ass, when Mei jumped and yelped, after being hit by a small tickling curse.

* * *

Sawamura was released from the hospital two days later.

The whole time, he kept wishing that Miyuki would visit him again, but the magician didn't appear. If Sawamura hadn't woken up with Miyuki's magic still wrapped around him, he would have thought he had merely dreamt the whole meeting.

He could leave the hospital, after breakfast, when miss Rei changed his bandages for the last time. Sawamura was vibrating with excitement; his friends could only visit him in evenings and not for too long. Sawamura was jealous, listening to what kind of classes they were taking – they already had tried light hand-to-hand combat! – and he was dying to join them in classes!

Well, not only that. Furuya hadn't showed up anymore and Sawamura needed to speak with him. According to Haruichi, Furuya still felt bad about himself and Sawamura needed to do something about it. It wasn't like Furuya had injured him on purpose, right?

"All done." Miss Rei finished bandaging Sawamura's shoulders. The burns on his skin healed nicely, but the wound from Furuya's arrow needed more time. "Do you remember what I said about what you can do?"

"Yes, mi —professor Rei!" Sawamura smiled, moving his left shoulder slightly. It didn't even hurt anymore. "No exercises for the next three days and I have to alert you if anything starts to hurt." Sawamura scowled at that thought.

He knew it was dangerous to hide wounds, especially wounds caused by magic, but he had spent almost a week in a hospital and still being vulnerable, for lack of a better word, was making him feel weak like he was still a little child. How was he supposed to become a great paladin if people wanted him to run to a nurse because something start to hurt him slightly?

"Good. You can dress now and you are free to go." Miss Rei took a tray with the used bandages and mixtures away, and waved her hand at curtains around Sawamura's bed; they closed quickly. "Someone will come for you in a few minutes."

Sawamura nodded, even if the healer couldn't see him anymore. He stood up from the bed slowly. His muscles hurt a little, but that was to be expected – past few days Sawamura barely was able to leave the bed. He could only go to the bathroom and back. A few stretching exercises and he should be good again.

Clothes were waiting for him on the bedside table. It was the standard paladin's outfit at the Gild: brown trousers, blue shirt, and a belt with a sheath for practice sword. It was nothing fancy, but Sawamura felt as if he were wearing the finest clothes made for the order of the king himself. He was finally looking like another student of the Gild!

Sawamura heard loud knocking when he was moving curtains back. That surprised him; who could knock to the hospital wing? Weird. Yet, it would be impolite of him not to answer and his parents with grandpa always insisted on Sawamura to behave well.

"E… Come in?" He said though it sounded more like a question.

The door opened and Sawamura's knees turned into cotton candy.

"Hello, Sawamura." Headmaster Sakaki entered the room. "I trust you are well?"

Speechless, Sawamura nodded. The headmaster was here? Were… were going to kick him out of the Gild after all?

* * *

Apparently, they weren't.

Sawamura almost had to run to not stay behind the headmaster. For such old guy, Sakaki surely wasn't moving slowly – and Sawamura preferred to face a beast again than to voice that thought aloud.

It quickly became obvious that Sakaki had come to Sawamura to show him his room. But why? It wasn't something a headmaster should do. Any other teacher, especially another student, was more suited for that task. Miss Rei could have just gave Sawamura the directions to his room earlier and it would have been enough too!

Other students were whispering and pointing their fingers at them. Did they think Sawamura was in trouble? Sawamura gulped, abruptly feeling uneasy. He wasn't in trouble, right?

Sakaki led Sawamura outside the building with the hospital wing. They passed a field where some of the knights were sparing and Sawamura sighed. Gods, he missed fighting!

Seeing how longing the expression on Sawamura's face was while observing sparring knights, Sakaki said:

"It's too early for you and other paladins to practice with swords. Those are third years knights." When Sawamura looked at him with surprised face, Sakaki continued. "Firstly, you will have to get a proper control over your magic. We don't want anyone to use too strong of a spell and accidentally hurt someone."

"Oh," Sawamura mumbled, his cheeks going red from embarrassment. Sakaki was talking about him, right? "I know I could hurt people with my magic, but I didn't want it! It was an accident!"

"Hm?" This time, it was Sakaki's turn to be surprised. "What do you— Ah, no, Sawamura," the man laughed quietly. "I'm not talking about your fight with the beast… Not now at least. Many students have problems with control, even when their life isn't in danger." He pointed at the building in front of them. "Let's go to the dorms first and we will talk. I'm afraid I'm not showing you Gild's grounds, just because I had a free morning."

Somehow, those words filled Sawamura with pride. The most famous knight in the country was talking to him like to an adult!

"I understand, sir!" Sawamura yelled and saluted. "I promise to answer all of your questions, sir!"

"Madam Rei was right, you're one of the kind." Sakaki laughed again. "On my part I'll promise to not keep you too long… From my understanding you already made some friends here, right?"

Taking that as a permission to talk, Sawamura launched into a long tale about how he met miss Rei, and later Haruichi, Kanemaru, and Furuya. He even said how those three had visited him at night, before remembering that they had broken school rules to do that. Sakaki didn't look to disturbed by that though; he only waved his hand at Sawamura, saying how he sometimes had problems with hearing.

From now on, Sawamura was more careful in what he was saying – although he didn't need any warning to not mention a word about Miyuki. He was sure the headmaster wouldn't like it if he learnt that a magician had broken into the Gild. And, in fact, a knight had helped him!

He was finished talking how Haruichi promised to take him later to the city, when Sakaki stopped in front of one doors at the second floor of dorms.

"Ah, we're here." The headmaster pulled a key from the pocket in his trousers and gave it to Sawamura. "I know that I told you this is a shared room , but the other two who live here are a second and a third year, and they are on a mock mission today." He lowered his voice to a theatrical whisper. "I let myself take the key from the locker in the reception."

Sawamura giggled, taking the key. He still felt overwhelmed by Sakaki's presence – Sakaki was one of people he respected the most – but the headmaster was turning out to be less strict with every passing minute. If someone told him yesterday that he would be joking with the headmaster, Sawamura would have laughed at that silly thought.

He unlocked the door and stepped in, feeling a little bit like an intruder.

It was a small room, with one separate bed and one bunk bed. There were standing two desks under the window, and a big wardrobe covering the wall at his left. Walls were covered in posters of swords and suits design. There were books lying around the room and a broken lance leaning against the wall (Sawamura could have swore he heard the headmaster sighing 'again?').

On the bottom of the bunk bed was a familiar, brown bag – Sawamura's bag. It looked untouched, but Sawamura hoped someone had opened it in the past few days. He remembered making himself some sandwiches in the morning of the exam and he wasn't looking forward to opening the bag, and finding them there.

Blah.

"Can I come in?"

Sawamura quickly moved aside, letting the headmaster step into the room. He felt more than silly with doing that; technically, that room and all other buildings belonged to the Gild and Sakaki was the boss of the Gild, so wasn't Sakaki the owner actually?

Yet, Sakaki didn't ask for permission to sit on one of chairs and pointing Sawamura the other. Nervous again, Sawamura turned the chair of the other desk and sat down, facing the headmaster. He wanted to ask what the headmaster wanted to talk about, but voice failed him when he looked at Sakaki's face.

Gone was that kind face of a favorite grandfather. The headmaster's expression was closed, his eyes calculating. He was observing Sawamura, as if the paladin was his opponent, not a student. Sawamura's palms got sweaty. He wasn't an easily scared person, but the headmaster's name was enough to make an army fear their fate – was it surprising he was nervous, when Sakaki was looking at him like he was debating with himself if he should attack Sawamura or not?

"I'm sure you know why I want to talk with you." Sakaki's voice was hard as steel and Sawamura shivered despite himself. "I talked with your parents and miss Rei. No one knew you could have inherited your mother's powers."

The headmaster made a break, looking expectantly at Sawamura; the paladin quickly nodded, murmuring:

"Me neither".

This time when he spoke Sakaki's voice was a little gentler, but his face wasn't betraying any of his thoughts.

"I know. But there are some… people," Ochiai, Sawamura thought, his hands unconsciously closing into fists, "who think you knew you couldn't control your summoner's magic and yet you decided to use it, knowing you could kill other people."

"That's not true!" Windows shook a little when Sawamura stood up, his powers swirling around the room. He had died, other people could die because of him, and someone thought he would use summoners' magic, knowing full well what would happen?

Just like two days ago in the hospital, Sawamura felt how his breath was quickening and he couldn't help it. Sakaki's strong palm closed around his wrist, pulling him down.

"Sit." The headmaster ordered, his own magic pressing against Sawamura's, making it calm down. "Breath and focus on my powers."

Sawamura took one shaking breath, trying to focus on the magic of the headmaster. It was difficult when his own magic wanted nothing else than to be released again, but the warm hand on his wrist and Sakaki's encouraging words finally helped Sawamura to calm down.

Soon, Sawamura's magic got quiet and his breathing calmed down.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, not being able to look at Sakaki's face.

Gods, if he couldn't control his magic, they were going to kick him out of the Gild's.

Sakaki sighed deeply and Sawamura prepared himself for the worst.

"Just like I thought. You woke it up." Okay, that wasn't what Sawamura expected to hear. "Can I continue now?"

Sawamura nodded, too embarrassed because of his lack of control to say anything.

The headmaster let go of Sawamura's wrist, before speaking again.

"For anyone present at the exam, it was obvious that was your first time using summoners' powers." A small part of Sawamura scowled that the headmaster could start his speech from saying _that_ , but he smartly kept his mouth shut. "Nothing could wake you up from the trance, not even when you got hurt." The wound on Sawamura's shoulder prickled. "We were all surprised… and we still are, mind you… at how much power you generated. Granted, I'm aware that one of magicians was able to send you some of his powers, but it wasn't enough to generate that much of magic." Sawamura fidgeted on the chair. Was he supposed to say anything about Miyuki…? "But now I have my answer." Sakaki leaned back in the chair, looking at Sawamura like a piece of puzzle he had just figured out.

"What answer, sir?" Because Sawamura didn't have any.

Sakaki smiled sadly at him.

"Normally, warriors' power reaches its full potential around the time when they graduate the Gild. They… you… are taught how to control your magic so when it awakes, you are immediately able to control and use it. Your powers, Sawamura, awakened too soon. That spectacle you performed a few minutes ago?" The headmaster waved at the room. "It wasn't a typical power of a student. I'm not sure if it's your whole power, mind you, but you definitely woke up a part of it."

Sawamura gulped.

"Is it very bad?" He asked nervously.

"Yes and no. You will find out that many tasks requiring magic will be much easier for you to do, but classes about magical control, the ones requiring great precision, will be much harder for you." Sakaki explained and Sawamura barely stopped himself from groaning aloud.

Great. He had never been able to control his magic properly and now he was going to have even more problems?

The headmaster stood up, but raised his hand to stop Sawamura from doing the same.

"I need to go, but before that I have one more question."

"I promised to answer all of them, sir!" Sakaki wasn't looking at Sawamura like he was the headmaster's enemy and the paladin dared to smile at him.

Sakaki cocked his head right, his gaze observing Sawamura's carefully.

"Can you tell me why you asked for Miyuki's magic?"

 _Shit._

That was one of those questions Sawamura didn't want to answer. He stopped himself from starting to fidget in the chair, hoping that his face didn't reveal anything. What was he supposed to say when he didn't understand it himself? And if he said too much, would Sakaki try to talk with Miyuki too? Would they get in trouble?

"I-I don't know, sir." Sawamura finally said; he didn't sound sincerely even in his own ears and he winced.

Sakaki didn't say anything about that blatant lie, though. He only nodded as if expecting such answer.

"I thought so. Well, some people say that summoners' should study at Gild, as they believe their powers aren't too magician-like and they prefer to work with other magicians, not warriors. Not to mention Miyuki Kazuya is a very powerful magician." Sakaki mused aloud. "You probably called for his magic, because he was the biggest source of it and closest to you."

Sawamura eagerly nodded, liking this explanation. He felt it wasn't true, that it wasn't even close to being true, but it sounded reasonable enough to tell that to other people.

"I will be going then… Don't stand up, I will find the exit." Sakaki walked to the door, avoiding a small mountain of dirty clothes on his path.

It embarrassed Sawamura, even if he wasn't he one, who left those clothes there.

Still, everything was good, right? He hadn't been kicked out and somehow he had managed to lie to the headmaster about –

"Ah, Sawamura?" Sakaki called for him from the door. Sawamura turned to the headmaster, but he couldn't even open his mouth before Sakaki said, "Tell your magician friend to visit you during the daytime next time."

Oh.

So maybe he hadn't fooled the headmaster after all.

* * *

Miyuki felt restless.

For the past four weeks, since the night he had visited Sawamura at the Gild, Miyuki was thinking about why their magic powers had reacted to each other and he didn't like any of the answers Oasis' library had been providing him.

No, he wasn't any kind of magical creature and he was sure Sawamura wasn't one either (although, Miyuki wouldn't mind having his own werecat). Miyuki was also sure that Sawamura wasn't a vessel for any demon – and that was something Miyuki was even more sure about. He was especially sensitive to any kind of dark magic and so he could find out if Sawamura was a demon disguised as a human in a blink of the eye.

The only plausible explanation was the one Miyuki didn't even want to acknowledge.

"Kazuya."

Miyuki put down the book, looking at Takako walking towards him. He had to squint his eyes to see her properly; the day was so beautiful that he decided to read outside, in the sun, enjoying the last few warm days of summer.

"Yes, Takako?" Miyuki liked her and liked to work together with Takako. She always had a new deadly mixture for him to play around with and he more often than not helped her with creating closing different spells in her potions. "Did something happen?" He asked, seeing her frown.

The alchemist brushed her dark hair aside and adjusted the bag on her shoulder. Something ticked inside of it and Miyuki briefly wondered if he needed the shield charm or not.

"Your knight friend is here and he's making a nuisance of himself." Takako said, her tone conveying her annoyance.

That in turn made Miyuki frown. Mei really had to be really annoying today, if he had managed to anger Takako.

"Go to him, before all the seconds year magicians actually try to pick a battle him."

Miyuki snorted, standing up.

"We should let them kick his ass, just once, Tako. It wouldn't hurt his ego."

Takako visibly shuddered.

"And give him an excuse to come here more often demanding a rematch? No, thank you." They both snickered.

It was a running joke that Mei wanted Miyuki to battle with him so much, he wouldn't mind fighting all the other magicians in the school to the point where it was only Miyuki to battle against him in the end. Miyuki was flattered, really, but he wasn't too keen at fighting Mei. His own magic was too strong to fight with a knight who had yet to awaken his true powers.

Not to mention both of them were powerful and skilled. They would need a much more isolated place than the fields at the Gild or Oasis to fight.

Miyuki waved to Takako and started walking towards the main building of Oasis. Since Mei wasn't an Oasis's student, he had to wait at the entrance. But even with someone from school accompanying him, he would only be permitted to stay on the ground floor of the main building. For such occasions, when someone was visiting magicians (their friends or family), they could sit in meeting the room near the entrance. It was a cozy, little room, with lot of flowers and big, comfortable armchairs. Around every table was a silencing spell, so everyone could talk comfortably without worrying about anyone listening in on their private conversations.

Seeing Mei observing the magic fountain in the room made Miyuki wonder why exactly the knight had decided to visit him. They weren't exactly friends, but they used to attend missions together, and they couldn't help but bound with each other a little. Yet, with how much Mei was insisting on Miyuki to become his "partner", Miyuki sometimes wished he could curse Mei's ass into next week.

"Finally, you are here." Mei snuggled deeper in the armchair.

He always complained about how he didn't like visiting Oasis ( _Too many of those sensitive wizards scared of blood… Are you listening to me, Kazuya?),_ but that didn't stop him from enjoying the things Oasis provided for their guests.

Miyuki raised his eyebrow, upon seeing two cups of juice and a silver tray with a few cookies on the table.

"Aren't you getting _too_ comfortable?" Miyuki asks, sitting in the opposite armchair.

"Can I take off my shoes?"

"No."

"Then I'm not." Mei shrugged and scarfed down another cookie, in less than three bites.

Miyuki took a sip of the juice – it was raspberry and that meant Mei wanted something from him. Normally, Mei would ask for his favorite juice, not Miyuki's.

"So what do you want?" Miyuki asked, not wanting to beat around the bush. He borrowed a book about summoners from the library and wanted to read it today. "You usually write a letter, before visiting me."

Mei took a sip from his glass too, his eyes looking straight into Miyuki's. For some reason it was unsettling.

"Have you talked with the kid again?" Mei sat more comfortably in the armchair.

Miyuki scowled. He knew who Mei was talking about.

"I really don't see a reason why I should." Lies, but Miyuki was good at them. He missed the feeling of having Sawamura's powers joining with his own, however, he couldn't visit Sawamura. Not before he could find a plausible explanation as to why he was able to feel the paladin since he had been a child – and that explanation would be something else than a children's fairytale. "And I don't see why you would care."

Mei snorted.

"I do not care for a kid that's from some backwater village," he huffed, but somehow it didn't sound too sincere. It picked Miyuki's curiosity. "But there are some things I thought you should know about."

Oh yes, Miyuki was definitely interested now. And for once it looked like Mei would tell him everything, instead of toying with Miyuki.

Yet, Mei proceeded to chow down on another cookie for a moment, before answering.

"I know that not everyone can be as talented as me." Despite the serious atmosphere, Miyuki laughed. It was something so Mei to say. The knight didn't scold him, though; just looked at him with the "why-do-I-even-bother-with-you" kind of a look. "Well, it's true! There are some weaklings at the Gild, but if they try their hardest to work then no one should have the right to laugh at them." Miyuki furrowed, suspecting where that little speech was going to. "Normally, I wouldn't say anything, but… the kid isn't _that_ bad of a warrior." Mei made a face, as if he had taken a bite out of a lemon; it never stopped amazing Miyuki just how Mei much hated praising other people. "Your paladin has problems controlling his powers and his teacher doesn't do shit to help him."

This time, both of Miyuki's eyebrows raised up.

"And this concerns me, because…?" He asked, hoping his face didn't reveal anything.

Was it bad that he felt the need to go straight to the Gild and check up on Sawamura, right?

"Because that fat fuck will get his wish and kick out the kid?" Mei growled. Glasses on the table shook under his power. "I have no idea what the hell headmaster was thinking –"

Miyuki felt how his eyes were getting wider behind his glasses.

"Ochiai teaches Sawamura how to control his powers?"

Shit, no wonder Mei was so pissed off.

Miyuki couldn't say that he liked all teachers at the Oasis, but even the worst ones were saints when they were compared to someone like Ochiai. That guy was interested only interested the best students and he had a habit of ignoring students with problems. Sure, they would pass his classes, but he never praised them. And if you managed to get on his bad side… You could practically start to packing your bags right then and there, because he would do anything to kick you out.

Seeing how much Mei was huffing and cursing under his breath, Miyuki felt like cursing too.

Last year, after a particularly bad mission, Mei had started to have problems of his own. They hadn't lasted for very long – he was too stupidly stubborn to not overcome his weakness – but he had been performing worse than usual. Other professors had understood that; after all, Mei had witnessed how a dragon destroyed half of the team he was part in and was probably still traumatized by the ordeal. But Ochiai? It was enough for him to label Mei as a failure, since the knight hadn't immediately picked himself up again.

To say that Mei disliked Ochiai was an understatement . 'Loathing' wasn't even enough. Mei most definitely wasn't hiding the fact that he would gladly let a dragon eat "that toad-face bastard" and laugh while it happened.

"Is he picking on Sawamura?" Miyuki asked, pushing the tray with cookies towards Mei. Nothing like sugar to calm Mei down. "Surely, other professors –"

"Will say something only when Sawamura complains." Mei finished, eyeing cookies, but in the end not bothering to take another one. "The kid isas stubborn as a mule." Mei's gaze was challenging Miyuki to say something, but for once, Miyuki chose silence over a sarcastic remark. "He doesn't complain. And it's not like Ochiai says anything mean to him. He just makes the kid go for something when he explains magic controlling techniques." Mei growled again. "Then, when it's time for meditation, the kid doesn't know what to do, but no one can help him, because they have be completely silent, right? So he gets low marks. And you can guess how he is doing in classes about offensive magic."

Miyuki nodded, his expression stormy.

"I can imagine," he said slowly, thinking how badly Sawamura could be at performing. It wasn't possible to properly cast attacking spells, when the control over one's magic powers was bad. "But why he doesn't like Sawamura so much?"

Mei shrugged.

"Who knows? Maybe he already thought that the kid was a failure, but then he had killed the beast? That fucker probably can't stand the thought that he was wrong."

Honestly, it was very petty behavior and if only Miyuki didn't know firsthand how shitty Ochiai had behaved towards Mei, he wouldn't believe me.

"It still doesn't explain why you told me all that." Miyuki noticed.

He felt bad for Sawamura, really, but it wasn't his problem, right?

For the first time in two years of knowing Mei, the knight looked uncomfortable. Miyuki's jaw almost dropped down when he saw that. What was going on?

"You see… Chris started to help the kid. I'm sure professor Kataoka asked him about it." Chris was one of little circle of warriors Mei seemed to more or less respect. "But the kid has awakened his powers, Kazuya, and you would be better to help him, don't you think?"

A cold shiver run down Miyuki's spine.

"Pardon?" he asks quietly, looking straight into Mei's calculating eyes. The knight was looking at him, as if he had manage to corner prey and Miyuki didn't like it at all. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, please, I'm not stupid." Mei's voice was as arrogant as always, but he was still observing Miyuki like a stalking predator. "You are friends with professors Rei and Kunitomo, who are specialists at controlling magic. And from when? They started to train you not too long after your—"

"That's enough!" Miyuki snapped. The waterfall behind Mei froze, but Mei didn't look scared. No, he looked satisfied, as if Miyuki had just proved something to him – never before had Miyuki wanted to hex the arrogant knight more. "Don't say another word."

"As you wish." Mei stood up and reached for another cookie. He was completely relaxed, as if there wasn't a very angry magician standing in front of him. "Think about helping the kid, Kazuya. Or at least go to him and let your powers connect, because Harada was right, your temper got shorter."

"There is nothing wrong with my temper." Miyuki snarled and one of the glasses broke. He cursed, moving away from the table, before any juice spilled onto his trousers.

Mei laughed, upon seeing that.

"Yeah, I'm sure about it."

Miyuki's eyes were throwing fire bolts, while he was observing how Mei seemed to be leaving the guest room. Sure, he had been a little bit more… easily annoyed by everything since he had seen Sawamura, but that didn't mean anything, right? Connecting their powers was great, but only batteries from legends needed to do that often. Miyuki scowled at the thought. He wasn't a part of a battery. That would be ridiculous.

Still, he thought, watching how the juice was dripping down from the table before mumbling a spell to clean up the mess he had made, after what Mei had told him, he couldn't just leave Sawamura without help.

Stupid warriors.

* * *

Miyuki lasted one full day, before going to the Gild.

Unlike Oasis, the Gild was less strict about visitors. Miyuki only had to say that he wanted to see Chris and soon the both of them were walking down a path towards a field used for meditation practice.

"Sawamura mentioned that he knows you, but he didn't say you would come to visit him today."

Miyuki smiled sheepishly.

"That was a spontaneous decision on my part, Chris." Miyuki lied.

He had known Chris for a long time, but he didn't want to reveal why he was visiting Sawamura. Miyuki had spent the whole night haunted by memories of Sawamura's death, mixed with thoughts about him getting kicked out of the Gild. They didn't have to be a battery for Miyuki to feel bad for the kid; plus, it was like Mei had said it: Miyuki would be the best person to help Sawamura.

That didn't mean Chris wasn't a competent person. He was a hardworking knight, well-respected by both professors and other students. Even the injury he received during the last term couldn't stop him from becoming a better knight.

Talking about the injury… Miyuki's eyes moved to Chris' injured shoulder, before he looked again at Chris' face. Since he had got wounded, Chris hadn't been the most cheerful person. And look at him now! Miyuki almost couldn't believe it was real when he had seen how Chris smiled earlier. The knight's aura was also different; it wasn't like a cold, winter wind anymore, but warm desert breeze.

Miyuki was dying to know what had happened, but first things first.

"I heard there are some problems with Ochiai?" Miyuki asked, carefully studying Chris' face.

The knight scowled; his opinion about that particular Gild's professor was as high as Mei's.

"He knows Sawamura has awakened some of his powers, but doesn't want to help him at all." Chris' expression was calm, but his voice was masking a storm. "And I cannot even report that to anyone, because Ochiai hasn't broken any rules." Chris sighed deeply.

Miyuki nodded, hearing that. As bad as it sounded, Ochiai didn't step out of the line and since it was highly unlikely there would be any change among lecturers, Sawamura had to learn everything on his own.

Sawamura.

Hearing that name made Miyuki's heart beat faster and his magic powers raised a little. He could feel the kid's powers all the way to the Gild. Now they were stronger, calling for Miyuki's own magic. Even without Chris' help, Miyuki would be able to find Sawamura. He could be blind and deaf, and still find the paladin.

It was both terrifying and exciting. Putting aside the lack of explanation for what was happening between them, how awesome would be to fight with Sawamura? Would they be able to create their own magic field, like how he once saw master Kunitomo and Rei doing? Trap a monster with nothing else other than their magic powers and incantation to destroy the beast?

Miyuki would never forgot how powerful that magic field had been. It required a lot of powers, perfect control, and an even more perfect ability to join one's powers with someone else, but the result… Pure magic. He hadn't been able to say who was casting the magic: a warrior, a lancer, or a dark magician. Such pure magic could only be found out in jewels in the ruins of the old Inashi's country, sealed for eternity.

How had been they able to seal it? To produce it? That was a question haunting researchers for centuries. Two magicians could create pure magic – although many of researchers argued that it wasn't 'pure magic', but more like 'magic not contained by the touch of any class of magic wielders' – but not for long and not anyone. Only the best of the best could do something like that. Some researchers dare to say that, in Inashi's times, it had been more common for two people to be bound by magic. Those people, batteries, could have been able to create pure magic. With one of them being a warrior and the other one a magician, their magic powers were complimenting each other, cancelling what made their powers 'warrior' and 'magician' like, leaving only pure, untouched magic.

Miyuki scowled at his own train of thoughts. He didn't want to think about batteries. They existed mostly in fairytales for a reason. There hadn't been a battery in years, decades even. Some books were talking about the partnership of a magician and a warrior, who were able to help each other, but that was it. A partnership. A completely normal, practiced to this day, tradition. When a warrior and a magician discovered they worked together pretty well, and their magic powers worked together too, so they were able to create a contract with each other to work as a team.

"I'm happy you want to help him, Miyuki." Chris confessed, avoiding a low branch; the green leaves sliding through his wavy, brown hair. "I wanted to go to professor Kataoka today for help. I can control Sawamura's powers with easier exercises, but—"

"But it gets harder with more difficult exercises." Miyuki finished for him. "I know."

Moreover, there wasn't even a big chance that someone from the faculty would be able to help Sawamura. It was one of the things Miyuki couldn't understand about Gild: all students there were responsible for themselves. Professors were only responsible for teaching them techniques, strategies, and other useful things, but it was a student's job to learn everything as independent studies. Even Mei, no matter how exceptional he was, hadn't been getting any help from his professors outside classes. It was wrong for a professor to even suggest help with classes they didn't teach. Their explanation was that their students would be alone on the battlefield and they had to be prepared for the worst to happen right from the day they had started attending the Gild.

And it wouldn't help Sawamura to have a teacher helping him outside the classes. Other students already were keeping their distance from him, afraid he would summon a beast by mistake, even if the kid – according to Chris – was swearing he would never again use summoners' magic. For Sawamura to receive personal help from one of the teachers… That wouldn't look too good. Miyuki had already learnt about Sawamura's problems in classes, not only in classes about magic control, but how he wasn't the best at strategy, his stealth skills were basically nonexistent and even more common subjects, like mathematics and science, were giving him problems. Some people already started to question what he was even doing at the Gild; the only thing he had done correctly so far was to survive the beast's attack.

But even that wasn't exactly correct, Miyuki thought, remembering Sawamura's glassy, dead eyes.

Anyway, seemed like Sawamura had to overcome everything on his own. Poor kid.

"We're almost there," Chris said, taking another turn right.

They entered a small park. Miyuki turned to Chris.

"I thought we were doing to a field?"

The fields for practice training stayed behind them.

"We are going there. A place to practice magic control is in the middle of the park." Chris explained. "It helps to focus."

Miyuki nodded. That made sense.

A few minutes later, they were entering the clearing. Miyuki's magic hummed in pleasure, when he saw Sawamura.

The paladin was shirtless, laying on his stomach on a blanket, and reading a book. His lips were moving slightly, and he was frowning like he didn't like what he was reading.

The moment step stepped into the clearing, Sawamura raised his head and his face broke into a smile.

"Master Chris!" He yelped and sat with his legs folded. "I was reading the book you gave me!" Then he moved his gaze at Miyuki and while his face didn't betray anything, his own magic trembled. "Miyuki, hello."

"What? I don't deserve the same happy greeting you gave to Chris?" Miyuki forced himself to joke.

Truth be told, he wanted to turn around and run away. Sawamura was… His magic was calling for Miyuki, wanting him to move close and he didn't want to do it. He was the master, not his magic!

Chris, Miyuki noted, watched them both with a curious expression. He couldn't read Miyuki's magical aura, but he probably had no problems with Sawamura's. Damnit. The kid needed to get proper control over his magic or everyone would not only know where he was, but also what he felt.

"Sawamura, Miyuki said he would help you with your control." Chris said, walking closer to Sawamura, Miyuki following close behind him.

"Huh?" Sawamura craned his neck to look at them, his aura showing off his confusion. "Why him? You really help me a lot, master!"

Looking at Sawamura's worried face made Miyuki feel less bad at that 'why him'. He wouldn't be surprised if the paladin thought that Chris was giving up on him.

Honestly, not even a month ago, almost no one had the guts to even approach Chris, and now Sawamura was behaving around him as if he were his best friend? Miyuki really needed to know what happened. And he happened to know exactly which vine Chris liked the most…

"It's because our magic powers have already connected in the past." Miyuki lied, sitting on the blanket too.

He didn't want to reveal that his own powers awakened too. It was Miyuki's secret; Chris knew about it and Mei apparently did too, but the less people know about it, the better. Miyuki would have too much explaining to do if anyone else learnt that he had awakened his powers.

And there was no way Miyuki would willingly say how that happened. He would never forget that day, not even if he got hit by a memory erasing curse.

Sawamura looked at Miyuki warily.

"If you say so," he mumbled.

All right, that was weird. The last time they had seen each other, everything was fine between them.

"I will go back to the dorms and not disturb you." Chris seemed to realize that something wasn't right too. "I'll be back in two hours."

"Sure," Miyuki agreed and Sawamura nodded.

They were observing in silence how Chris was leaving.

"Let's start with –"

"I don't need your help," Sawamura growled. He looked angry and… hurt? "And don't pretend you're worried about me. You left me alone for a whole month!"

"So? We aren't friends, I didn't have to visit you." Miyuki snarled. His magic was trying to reach Sawamura again, but he managed to overcome that urge.

"You asshole!" Sawamura yelled, his palms curling into fists. "After everything…! My magic has been acting weird, since I met you, I cannot control it and you…! I could always feel –" Sawamura's eyes widened and he quickly shut it mouth, obviously angry at himself for saying too much. "You know what? Forget it."

But when Sawamura tried to stand up, Miyuki caught him by his wrists, not letting him go.

Miyuki's eyes were wide and his heart was beating loudly in his chest. Did Sawamura want to say that he had always been able to feel Miyuki?

"You could feel me?" Miyuki asked. When Sawamura didn't say anything, Miyuki moved closer to him, practically erasing any space between them: he was kneeling between Sawamura's legs, their faces on the same level. "Answer me. Have you felt my magic, since you were little?"

"…Yes," Sawamura whispered, his voice strained. He gulped and took a few shaky breaths. "Does it… does it makes me a freak?"

It was so unlike him, but everything Miyuki wanted that moment was to hold Sawamura close. That was why he moved back, letting go of Sawamura's wrists. The close proximity of Sawamura and his magic were doing weird things to him.

"No." Miyuki shook his head. When Sawamura didn't look too convinced, Miyuki sighed heavily. "Think. How did I know what you wanted to say?"

"Because…" Sawamura's eyes widened, when the realization struck him. Gone was worried face; he was grinning so hard, Miyuki was afraid he was going to hurt himself. "You are the same as me!"

"Seems so." Miyuki agreed. After a moment, he added. "I tried to look for an answer as to why our powers connected the way they do. This information might help me." No, it wouldn't, it would create only more questions. Yet, Sawamura instantly became happier and that, in turn, made Miyuki feel a little bit better.

He didn't like it one bit. Were his emotions connected to Sawamura's?

"All right, let's start our practice, before Chris comes back. Tell me, what exercises can you do?"

Sawamura happily launched into explanation and Miyuki listened to him.

When it came to magic controlling exercises, warriors and magicians were practically doing the same. The most basic exercises were simple 'move a feather with your powers', 'put out a candle'. Then exercises grew worse. One of the most difficult things was to visualize one's magic and wrap it around its owner's body like a blanket. The part with visualizing magic was hard enough, but to bend it into a shape? That was the most difficult part. Students with weaker magic powers were at advantage there, as their magic was more cooperative. More magic powers meant it was more difficult to control.

Looking at Sawamura, Miyuki could see why Chris had said that some students were jealous. The kid was reeking with magic, yet he couldn't control any of it at all. Miyuki was starting to doubt he would ever be able to try to guess other people's feeling by sensing their magical auras – which was a part of the training too.

Yet, once they started to practice, Sawamura wasn't that bad. He actually managed to do the most basic exercises without any problems, but he did have a problem with visualizing his own magic. Not only could he not focus properly, but he seemed to be unable to comprehend what it was he needed to focus on.

After Miyuki was forced to use his own aura to force Sawamura's powers back into submission , so that they didn't destroy the clearing, he started to think that they might have quite the problem on their hands.

"Think about it like it's a part of you!" Miyuki almost yelled, when Sawamura's power hit a nearby tree; it shook quite heavily, but, thankfully, didn't collapse .

Sawamura bristled.

"I'm trying! But your explanation doesn't make any sense!"

"How can it not make any sense?! It's a part of you!"

"Haruichi always tells me to think about it like making cookies." Sawamura said angrily, wiping his sweaty face off. "Forming dough into the shape I want."

"Then maybe ask him for help?" Miyuki suggested. If that Haruichi person could explain things to Sawamura better than he could, then so be it; Miyuki would just keep close, as a sort of guardian, in order to make sure Sawamura's powers didn't blow up and hurt anyone or demolish their surroundings.

Yet, instead of agreeing, Sawamura's expression turned gloomy.

"He... isn't here at the moment." He mumbled, absentmindedly playing with a blade of grass. He obviously struggled to say the next part. "Professor Ochiai took everyone on a trip outside the city, so that they could practice their attacks a little … and control…"

"But you couldn't go?" Miyuki was surprised at how gentle his voice was.

Sawamura only shook his head, refusing to look up. Miyuki sighed. Well. No wonder Sawamura was so eager to learn how to control his magic.

"But it's okay!" Sawamura faked a laugh. "Soon, I'll be just as good as them, if not, better!"

They sat in nothing but complete quiet for few minutes. That might be a part of Sawamura's control problem too. He was casted aside, while his friends are already starting to learn newer .

Knowing that what he was going to do was really, really stupid, Miyuki put his hand on Sawamura's shoulder.

"Do you want us to join our magic?" he asked quietly.

They were alone and he couldn't sense anyone close. They could join their magic powers without anyone asking stupid questions. Miyuki felt as if he couldn't just leave Sawamura like that; he was the person Miyuki had been sensing his whole life. Not helping Sawamura sounded simply wrong.

Sawamura raised his head to look at Miyuki. He looked surprised, but grateful.

"Yes. It might help."

Miyuki didn't say it aloud, but he was almost sure it was going to help.

"Close your eyes." Miyuki instructed. For the first time in over twenty minutes, Sawamura didn't try to argue with him. "Now, I will release my powers slowly… I know you can sense them, so focus on that. Focus on that feeling." Still keeping his hand on Sawamura's shoulder, Miyuki closed his eyes too.

He let go of his magic, with a soft sigh; his magic had been itching him, calling him to do that the moment he saw Sawamura. Yet, he didn't let his powers touch Sawamura's, not yet.

"Can you feel it, Sawamura?" Miyuki whispered. "I let my powers roam freely, but I'm still the one in control. I don't let our powers mix, not yet, right?"

"Right." Sawamura whispered back.

Miyuki could sense how Sawamura was trying to grab his own powers the way Miyuki was controlling his. It made him smile.

"Don't use so much force. It's a part of you, remember. You wouldn't hit yourself on purpose, right?" Sawamura's shoulder shuddered under Miyuki's hand, when the paladin laughed. By some miracle, he actually manage to let go of his powers, just like Miyuki had done. Sawamura's control could be described as 'shaky' and 'barely there', but it was much better than anything they had done so far. "Now, I'll let our powers mix, all right? Don't fight it, just push your magic against my own. Let them touch each other, but still keep a hold on it." That was the part Miyuki liked the less.

It was weird having to explain how powers could be mixed. It usually happened when one magician tried to help another one, giving out his powers. One still needed to have control over that power to stop giving it any moment, but not so much that the other magician would control it.

Finally, thinking about the source of his inspiration to mix their powers now, Miyuki said:

"Do you remember how our powers joined with each others in the hospital? Do the same thing now. Don't think too much. Just… let it flow."

And Sawamura did it. He took a shaky breath and release his powers, pushed it against Miyuki's, but gently, without much force behind it. Their powers connected and Miyuki shivered, a pleasant feeling forming in his chest. Gods, was it possible to miss something so much? Sawamura's powers felt as good as his own.

"I-I can see it."

"Huh?" Miyuki opened his eyes to see how Sawamura was observed their powers in awe. Just like he said, their powers manifested: they were sitting in a river of blue and gold. "Do you want to try to separate them?"

"Yes…" Sawamura didn't even look at Miyuki, too absorbed by how their powers were moving with each other. "I'll try to keep mine visualed." He promised.

"Good."

Miyuki concentrated, moving his aura back. Sawamura's didn't want to let go, but the paladin gained enough control of it, to let their magic powers separate. Then, with furrowed eyebrows, Sawamura started moving his powers around them. It was taking a lot from him – Miyuki could see how much sweat was forming on Sawamura's forehead – but in the end, the paladin was able to clumsily, wrap his powers around himself. If Miyuki squinted, he would prefer it looked a little like an armour.

"See this?!" Sawamura yelled happily, touching the magic resting so close to his body it looked like clothes. "I did it!"

"Yes, you did." Miyuki moved back, breathing slowly.

Not only Sawamura got tired. Connecting their powers felt as wonderfully as ever, but it couldn't make Miyuki more rested.

Sawamura turned his gaze at Miyuki and, in the next moment, Miyuki was tackled to the ground, with a very happy paladin hugging him close.

"Thank you so much, Miyuki Kazuya!" Sawamura actually nuzzled his face against Miyuki's chest. "Thank you!"

"Yes, yes, now get off of me, you overgrown puppy." Miyuki sighed in annoyance, although it wasn't the worst feeling to keep have Sawamura so close. The kid smelled nice and it wasn't so bad to have his arms around himself.

No, Miyuki shook his head mentally. He hadn't just thought that.

Slow clapping made them both look behind themselves – Sawamura raised his head while Miyuki cranked his head, looking at Chris upside down.

"I see I did a good thing leaving you two alone together."

"Master!" In the blink of an eye, Sawamura had let go of Miyuki, stood up, and rushed over towards Chris, babbling happily about how he was able to control his magic.

The whole time, Chris was observing Miyuki, and Miyuki told himself that he didn't have to feel guilty, because he hadn't done anything bad, even if he found it hard to look at Sawamura without thinking of that warmth he felt, when their powers mixed.

Or when Sawamura was holding him.

Miyuki groaned quietly. What had he done to deserve that?

 **Cdn**

Sakaki - in canon he is Kataoka's old coach sand I have big hopes for him when Seidou will play against his team (I'm 100000% sure it will happen!)/s

Before anyone asks about why I made Ochiai this much of an asshole, let me explain myself. In case anyone doesn't remember, Ochiai tried to destroy Eijun's form. He labelled Eijun as a failure and didn't do anything to help him; even teaching Eijun change-up was a way for Ochiai to show Eijun that he cannot learn a breaking ball. This is a person, who instead of acting like a proper coach, whom parents trust to take care of their kids, decided to fuck up with Eijun's future as a pitcher and didn't even apologize for that.

Yeah, I'm still salty over that.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** Sawamura finds some answers, Miyuki is still stubborn, but he helps Sawamura understand that there are some things one doesn't have control over.  
 **Warnings: angst  
** **A/N:** I present you third chapter! All because of a real, Nikki, who worked very hard at correcting my grammar. Tell me if you like Miyuki's nickname for Eijun ;)

* * *

 **Chapter III**

Sawamura was a man on a mission.

Since the day Miyuki had helped him with controlling his powers, Sawamura found out how much easier it became to get a proper grip on his magic. The moment when Miyuki had let their magic connect… It was pure bliss. Sawamura had been vaguely aware that they had done it before; his magic felt alive, he himself felt alive. It was like being in the center of a hurricane: the magic was swirling around them and yet, in the center of it all was nothing but pure, blissful silence. Controlling his magic, since then, was the easiest thing in the world. With Miyuki's magic next to his own and his voice giving him advice, Sawamura had felt that he could conquer the world.

Which was why he had burrowed himself under a pile of books in the library.

Sawamura wasn't the sharpest tool, but he knew when something was wrong. Miyuki would want to keep his secret to himself, yet Sawamura intended to find his own answer and then ask Miyuki about it. He was almost completely sure that Miyuki had found out why they could link their magic like that.

Master Chris had tried to do it to, but the result wasn't the same. Sure, their powers joined together, which had helped Chris to stop Sawamura from making too big mess when he still couldn't control his magic, however, Sawamura hadn't felt the same as when he joined his magic with Miyuki. Chris' magic felt alien to him, not like his own. At the first touch of Chris' powers brushing against his own, Sawamura had felt sick.

He knew that Miyuki was an exceptional magician, yet there must be something else. Master Chris was a wonderful knight too – even if the beginning of their relationship had started off rocky and Sawamura had so desperately wanted to shove Chris' sword up his –

Well, the start of their relationship wasn't the best, to put it mildly.

Sawamura sighed, looking at the books on the table. It was hard to find anything when he didn't even know what it was he needed to be looking for and he doubted asking librarians for a book about feeling someone's presence for years would result in anything good. Most of the people at the Gild already treated Sawamura like he was some kind of a freak – he didn't want to give them any more reasons to do so.

Also, a small part of him didn't want to reveal that he and Miyuki could feel each other's presence. It felt too personal, too intimate to reveal such a fact.

Sawamura felt Haruichi's aura before he saw the lancer walking towards him.

"Eijun-nini?" Haruichi's soft voice called out, as he sat down next to Sawamura, looking quite impressed by the amount of books on the table. "I was looking everywhere for you ."

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you guys I'd be in here today." Sawamura smiled at his friend in an apologetic manner. "Something happen?"

"No, I just wanted to ask if you would like to go with me, Kanemaru and Toujou to the city." Haruichi explained, taking a few books from the table and reading their titles, almost fascinated at the thought of his friend reading books. "We heard there's a circus this weekend… oh, Eijun, I didn't know you were so interested in magical vessels." Haruichi, face lit up in surprise, pointed at one of books Sawamura had yet to actually read.

"Well… I tried to search for more information about joining magic powers." It was a safe thing to say, because Sawamura didn't lie. He just didn't say the whole truth.

"This is usually something that magicians have interest in." Haruichi noted, but seeing Sawamura's pout he quickly added, "But that doesn't mean you can't be interested in this stuff too! I really don't want to discourage you, Eijun-nini."

"I know." Sawamura smiled, playfully messing up Haruichi's perfectly brushed hair when an idea struck him. "Listen, Haruichi…"

"Hm?" Haruichi hummed in response, trying to brush his hair back into place again.

"Have you ever heard about people joining their magic in a way that made them feel like the magic of that other person was their own?" Sawamura asked slowly, hoping he sounded as if he wasn't speaking from experience. "All those books keep talking about how magicians and warriors are always uncomfortable with using someone else's magic and I was just… wondering." Sawamura quickly shut up. He started to babble and that was never good.

But Haruichi wasn't looking askance at Sawamura.

"Like a battery?" he asked.

"A battery?" Sawamura repeated. "What is a battery?" He faintly remembered hearing that word once, but he wasn't sure where.

Haruichi stilled, looking at Sawamura in surprise – or so Sawamura thought, since he couldn't see Haruichi's eyes behind those long, pink bangs of his.

"It's a popular legend. Maybe not so popular in your part of the country." Haruichi looked around himself and stood up. "Wait here, all right? I know where to find a book about it."

"Thank you, Haruichi!" Sawamura yelled happily and he heard a " _hush there, paladin!_ " from the librarian. 4

He quickly mumbled an apology, not wanting to be kicked out from the library. Not now, when he was so close to getting his answers!

Haruichi came back few minutes later, carrying two big books. When he laid them on the table, Sawamura furrowed.

"Fairytales?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Haruichi nodded, opening one of books; the slimmer one with a castle drawn on its cover.

"Some people believe that batteries were real, but no one can prove it." Haruichi said, flicking through the pages. "The library has a section about mythology and I hoped they would have this book. It's very popular in my region." Haruichi pushed the book towards Sawamura, poking at the start of paragraph of the new chapter. "Start reading here."

Surprised and being sure that Haruichi was making fun of him, Sawamura started to read, whispering aloud:

" _As mentioned in chapter three, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Magic Legends, we cannot track the original source of legends about batteries. Some say it was buried along with the fall of the Inashi nation, yet studies show similar stories in many other countries. The stories wary between each other, but they have similar characteristics which makes some researchers believe they are about batteries._ " Now, that sounded interesting. _"The main characteristic is that a warrior and a magician can join their magic together. Granted, this is something any warrior and magician can do. Yet, like it was stated in '_ Ode to Princess Seszele' _and '_ Poem of nothingness' _the link between members of a battery is different. Their magic feels the same, which is something most researchers immediately refuses to believe in. After all, warriors' and magicians' magic is fundamentally different and cannot be the same. However they forget that magic wielders, skilled in controlling their magic, are able to create pure magic, which transcends the barriers and laws of magic known to us."_

Sawamura didn't know much about the laws of magic yet , but he could say that, yes, Miyuki's magic felt like his own, unlike Chris'. It was like his and Miyuki's magic were two halves of the same thing.

It was terrifying, confusing, and yet amazing at the same time.

" _For batteries, joining their magic with anyone else feels wrong and is a common trope in most legends and myths."_ Yes, Sawamura could agree with that. He started to wonder if the library had a book about those myths… He would have to check it later. " _Another characteristic is that both parties are able to feel each other's presence miles away from each other._ " Sawamura's gulped. It was just like him and Miyuki, right? " _The legends from Otanika mention batteries who had been able to sense each other since they were children._ "

"Eijun-nini?" Haruichi put his palm on Sawamura's shoulder. "Something happened? You stopped reading."

"W-What? No, I just…" Sawamura gulped again, getting a grip on himself. He wasn't sure if he liked what he was reading. " _Such phenomena would be used as a proof that batteries indeed shared magic, that they could sense each other because, in a way, they sensed something that was a part of them."_ Oh, gods. _"The third common characteristic in batteries is their need to link their powers. Many legends like '_ About the gold crown _' or '_ The Song about Rigald and Lorene _' talk about how batteries needed to link their powers quite often, because it made them feel better. Could it be because their magic was indeed two halves of one being?"_ Sawamura released his breath slowly. Hadn't he just thought the same about his magic and Miyuki's? " _It's hard to tell. Yet, the legends agree that linking powers makes batteries stronger and relaxes them. It was probably even possible for both parties to create an emotional link between each other. Researchers cannot agree if falling in love with each other is the fourth characteristic."_ Wait, what? " _There is equal numbers of legends about batteries, whose members were lovers, but also whose members were just friends. It is up to debate if the emotional link between parties or 'overwhelming happiness' when joining powers could lead to love."_ Sawamura stopped, not being able to read more.

He needed to talk with Miyuki! Maybe they were a battery? Or maybe they could read all those legends and see if they could be something else? Sawamura didn't exactly fancy the idea of being a part of something that most people thought was a mere fairy tale ; it was enough of him that he had gotten his mother's powers, he didn't need to be even more different than anyone else and –

Miyuki definitely knew about it.

The thought was sudden, unexpected, and immediately Sawamura accepted it, not knowing exactly why. Just like Haruichi said, the legend about batteries were popular, right? And Miyuki was a good researcher, according to master Chris. He had definitely checked every possible answer.

"Eijun? Are you listening to me?"

"I'm sorry, Haruichi." Sawamura shook his head and looked at his friend with a small smile. "I didn't hear you. What did you say?"

"I asked," Haruichi said with the slightest pout. "If your research has something to do with you and that magician, Miyuki."

Sawamura felt how his smile faltered.

"Why are you asking?"

"You told me he helped you with controlling your powers… and your questions about feeling someone else's magic as your own… it's not something you ask about, unless you experienced it or you are very curious." Haruichi was looking sharply at Sawamura from under his fringe, one of his eyes visible; he looked just like Ryou-kunine and that made Sawamura feel uncomfortable. "I was just… wondering."

Sawamura's hands started to get sweaty.

"I was just curious, Haruichi, really!" He laughed quietly, trying to pretend he wasn't disturbed by Haruichi's words or by what he had just read.

Haruichi sighed, heavily.

"If you say so, Eijun-nini." And just like that disappeared that strange persona and Haruichi was looking as non-dangerous as ever. "Let's put those books back and go to the city."

"O-okay," Sawamura agreed, glad that Haruichi didn't ask more questions. A sudden thought appeared in Sawamura's mind. "What about Furuya? Is he going with us?"

Haruichi paused in his tasks of gathering books.

"Not this time. I heard professor Ochiai wanted to talk with him again."

Sawamura nodded, putting the books on a pile. It wasn't a secret how much professor Ochiai valued Furuya and Sawamura didn't pretend he wasn't a bit jealous. Furuya's control wasn't much better than his own, but he definitely had lot of talent in using spells with his arrows and his speed was outstanding. People were already talking about how Furuya was going to join the Gild's Sixth, the sixth of the best warriors in the country, and Sawamura felt torn. On one hand, he wanted to be happy for his friend, but on the other it was his dream to join Gild's Sixth too.

Well, it only meant Sawamura had to work harder so people could acknowledge him too and he would join the Sixth along with Furuya.

"Let's hurry up, Haruicchi. Masuko-kunine promised to help me with the homework about magical creatures later." Sawamura took his pile with the book and went between bookstands to put them in their correct places.

Masuko-kunine and Kuramochi were the best roommates Sawamura could dream of – save for the part where Kuramochi often practiced his hand-to-hand combat moves on Sawamura, though. They explained a lot of things to Sawamura, but didn't give him any answers to his homework, telling him to work on his own. And Sawamura did it; he didn't want to cheat and get positive marks for someone else's work.

Being friends with Masuko-kunine and master Chris meant also being friends with other third years, like Yuuki-kunine (Sawamura had dared to ask him for his autograph, even if Kuramochi was still laughing at him about it), Jun-kunine, or Ryou-kunine. They were exceptional warriors and Sawamura loved listening to their stories. He even got to play a game of shogi with Yuuki-kunine (a board game from a country overseas, how exciting)! And Jun-kunine had promised Sawamura to spare with him, once he had properly learned how to put a shield spell on his sword.

Putting the last book on the bookshelf, Sawamura's thoughts went back to what he had read and to that feeling of how he knew that Miyuki was aware of what they could possibly be. He hadn't seen Miyuki in a while and didn't exactly know how to contact him; could he just go to the Oasis and ask for a meeting?

Well, he could try it, right?

* * *

Sawamura couldn't, but not for the lack of trying.

Just every time he went to Oasis, he heard that Miyuki wasn't there. After the fourth time it happened, Sawamura simply stopped going there – he had enough of that pitiful gaze from the receptionist. Moreover, professors were slowly preparing them for winter exams and it was starting to become more difficult to keep up with everything.

Thank gods for Kanemaru and his organizational skills, otherwise, Sawamura would have simply died under his mountain load of homework.

It wasn't like Sawamura didn't want to see Miyuki anymore – not when his magic was getting restless and he felt like something was missing – but maybe Miyuki needed some space too? Sawamura knew he needed it. He wasn't sure if he believed in that battery stuff, not the more he read, the more he realized how much description of a battery fit him. Would it be possible for them to be a battery? If so, then what kind of consequences would it have?

With a sigh, Sawamura took the book about magical creatures from his bag. The lesson was going to start in a moment and he needed to have his head clear. Professor Tahara wasn't very stern, but he liked to ask pretty difficult questions, and had a habit of talking a lot. It was best to stay focused in his class in order to be able to write everything down.

Haruichi sat on Sawamura's left, talking with Kanemaru sitting behind them. Unlike other teachers, professor Tahara let them sit wherever they wanted, which always resulted in the first two rows of tables being empty. A few students sat in the third row and the following sat the rest. The class had tables going up and Sawamura always made sure to be early enough to have a spot in the middle row; he disliked sitting so high. Yet, as everyone noticed with a snicker, archers loved to sit there, while lancers, due to their link with nature, preferred to sit close to the ground.

Speaking about archers… Sawamura turned around and sure enough, he saw Furuya sitting in the highest row, away from others. Recently, Furuya had been choosing to stay alone a lot and Sawamura had been wanting to ask him about it for a while. It was almost as if Furuya were avoiding him and Sawamura knew it didn't have anything to do with his injury anymore.

Professor Tahara walked briskly into the classroom, as usual, carrying a few books with him. During his little research, Sawamura got to know that professor Tahara was a common guest in the library – he spent more time in there than anywhere else.

"Good morning, my boys and girls!" Tahara said and immediately everyone stopped talking. Tahara wasn't a warrior or a magician, but that didn't mean the students didn't respect him. "I hope you all did your homework… Remember to put it on my desk when you're leaving class."

Sawamura nodded, looking at his essay. He was actually proud of it; Masuko-kunine had praised him for choosing good books to work with and even Kanemaru had looked less annoyed than usual, when Sawamura had showed him his work. Maybe he would finally get something other than C!

"Who will remind me what we talked about the last time?" Almost everyone raised their hands.

Classes about magical creatures was a favorite amongst every student. Not only did all groups of warriors from one year had this class together, but also the professor let them often discuss and share personal experiences about creatures from regions where they were from. So far, Sawamura could only share how to stop bleeding after being bitten by a magic plant, but he looked forward talking about some creatures from the area of his village!

"Good, good, Elsa, my girl, you even remembered that they don't like aconite." Tahara praised one of archers when she finished talking about wyrms. "Today, we will talk about something a little different. I want us to talk about poisons of different creatures." Sawamura straightened in his chair; that sounded interesting. "Is anyone here able to give me an example of a poison and how to treat it?"

Sawamura's hand was raised, before he realized that. Tahara waved at him, smiling engagingly.

"To soothe pain from a triton's poison, the best thing to do is compress the bite with soy milk and chamomile." Sawamura said. "Tritons have very small jaws, but their teeth are razor sharp, so while their bites are small, they are very painful, if left untreated. They cannot poison anyone deadly, but they do leave their saliva under skin and that hurts."

"Very good, Sawamura, my boy!" Tahara exclaimed loudly. After almost three months, they all got used to it. "If I remember correctly, your dad is a healer, right?"

"Yes, professor! We live close to a river, so people often come to him with tritons' bites. I learned some things from him," Sawamura grinned.

Tahara nodded.

"Tritons like to live in rivers, close to villages and towns. Fishermen hate them." Sawamura saw a few other students nodding at that with stormy expression and he shared that sentiment with them; tritons loved to destroy nets and eating fishes. "Sawamura, boy, was right about the soy milk too. If you don't have a healer with you, this is the best method to lull the pain. But!" The professor pointed up. "Can someone give me an example of a poison, which specifically hurts a person with magic?" He looked around his students. "No one?"

Haruichi tentatively raised his hand.

"My older brother mentioned once that ghouls' bites can be very dangerous."

"And your brother was right, Kominato boy." Tahara nodded to himself. "Yes, yes, ghouls… Nasty creatures, but that's a talk for another day. Yes, ghouls bites can weaken one's magic. It's not much and once you awaken your powers, you won't be fearing ghouls anymore, but it's something good to know now." Was it Sawamura's imagination or did Tahara's gaze stop on him a moment longer when the man mentioned awakened powers?

Did everyone know about it already?

With a sigh, Sawamura opened his notebook and started writing down the list of magical creatures and most common ways to help when someone got bitten or hurt by them. Some of the stuff he already knew, thanks to his father, but some was complete news to him.

In the end, the class turned out to be more interesting than Sawamura thought it would be (even if he completely lost his appetite thanks to those really graphic pictures Tahara showed them) and in much better spirits; he was looking forward to the practical class for paladins with professor Kataoka.

"Hey, Furuya!" After saying a quick 'bye' to Haruichi and Kanemaru, Sawamura ran down the stairs, catching Furuya close to the door of the class. "Are you going to the field too? Let's go together!" He grinned. Paladins and archers both had a practical class now, although on different fields.

Furuya nodded and Sawamura started walking next to him, happily babbling about events of the last few days. It was always hard to make Furuya talk, but Sawamura had learnt already that, if he talked first and a lot, Furuya was much more prone to talking a little too. And Sawamura wanted to talk with him; it was hard to find Furuya to talk with him, for the past few weeks, and Sawamura was starting to miss his friend.

" – And then it exploded!" Sawamura exclaimed, gesturing wildly. They left the school and were moving towards the field for paladins'; the one for archers was a bit further back, so as to not interfere with anyone else's practice. "Professor Kataoka was impressed."

Furuya's left eyebrow arched.

"That you blew up a dummy?" He asked in voice close to teasing. "And don't yell, it's annoying."

Sawamura puffed and playfully punched Furuya's shoulder.

"You're annoying! And yes, he was!" Sawamura pouted. "He looked pretty impressed, after I finished doing pushups as a punishment for using too much power… Or maybe he just pulled a face because the sunlight was shining brightly in his eyes?" Sawamura asked in fake, oblivious voice and Furuya's lips curled into a small smile.

He folded his shoulders on his chest, which Sawamura had learnt by now meant that he wasn't comfortable.

"So have you gotten any better at offensive spells?" Furuya asked quietly, deliberately not looking at Sawamura. "And… you know… your shoulder?"

Back to the same thing, right?

"I told you, my shoulder is completely fine." Sawamura grinned at Furuya, but the archer still looked unconvinced. Every time Sawamura thought that Furuya believed him, Furuya had to ask about that old wound. Sawamura wasn't lying! His shoulder really was fine; there wasn't even a scar left! "… That was my first properly cast offensive spell." He admitted quietly, which resulted in Furuya awkwardly petting his shoulder. Sawamura grinned to himself. Soon, he would teach Furuya how to behave like a proper human being with emotions.

Almost three months after fighting with the beast summoned by Zono, Sawamura had just managed to cast the first offensive spell on his sword and attack the practice dummy with it. So far, he had been using the idea master Chris came up with: enhanced shield spell, reflecting attacks. But Sawamura couldn't rely on something like that for too long, not when he wanted to become a great paladin! So he had told himself it was going to be okay and spent weeks on the practical field trying to use offensive spells. Sawamura didn't know why he had that problem – none of other students had it. But every time before when he had tried to use one of offensive spells, he remembered killing the beast, how it hurts to charm his sword, how he had been _dying_ and he couldn't cast anything, his magic powers frozen.

In that practical class last week, Sawamura had been using defensive charms the whole time when he suddenly got an idea about using the flame charm on his sword right after reflecting a barrier. So he had done just that, going with the flow, not even realizing he had to use the offensive spell until professor Kataoka pointed that out.

Sawamura wasn't joking; professor Kataoka really had been looking proud of him and some of his classmates even had cheered for him.

Yet, despite Sawamura's words, Furuya didn't look much better. His face was more expressionless than always again and Sawamura was running out of ideas on how to ask him about it.

However, Furuya spoke first when they reached the field for paladins.

"I have a mission with a magician soon," Furuya suddenly blurted, causing Sawamura to almost trip over his own legs.

"W-what?!" Sawamura looked at his friend with wide eyes.

They weren't supposed to start going on missions for the next two weeks! Of course, those 'missions' for first classes weren't exactly true expeditions. They were hunting vicious, magical creatures under the wing of one of the professors and in groups big enough that it was guaranteed everyone would be okay.

And they definitely didn't go on those missions with a magician. That was something reserved for older students.

Furuya nodded, looking at Sawamura with something close to sadness.

"Professor Ochiai said I'm ready to go on a mission with the fourth years. It's a joint mission with the magicians from the Oasis." Furuya lowered his voice to a whisper. "Haruichi said you wanted to talk with Miyuki Kazuya, right? Professor Ochiai said we would work together, so I can pass him a message from you."

Something ugly raised in Sawamura's chest. Furuya was going on a mission with Miyuki…? But Miyuki was Sawamura's magician!

It was a weird thought, but Sawamura was too busy fuming to analyze it.

On the other hand, Furuya tried to be helpful… and so Sawamura instantly felt guilty over being jealous. It wasn't Furuya's fault that, so far, Sawamura hadn't been able to show himself as a good paladin, right?

"Sure, thanks Furuya, I always knew I could count on you!" Sawamura tried to smile brightly, but he wasn't sure he succeeded. Judging by Furuya's raised eyebrows, he didn't. "Tell him we need to talk about the time he helped me with controlling my magic. Thanks, you're the best!" Sawamura slapped Furuya's back. "I have to go now, professor Kataoka doesn't like when we're late!"

Not waiting for Furuya's answer, Sawamura quickly left him, jogging to the middle of the field where professor Kataoka was waiting for them already.

Was it stupid of him to feel angry? Probably. Very irrational too, since Miyuki wasn't his magician, they didn't even talk enough to be considered friends, but… but they shared magic! That meant something!

The ugly feeling was back in Sawamura's chest, like a poisonous snake. Sawamura snarled to himself, angry at the whole world. Something inside of his chest was urging him to run to Oasis and beg Miyuki to not go, to stay, and be Sawamura's partner, not someone else!

With how angry he was, Sawamura managed to properly do every one of the moves Kataoka showed them, imagining the practice dummy was Ochiai, and slashing it with great pleasure.

It didn't make him feel better, but it was satisfying when the dummy crumbled under his sword, even if he had to do fifty pushups as a punishment _again._

* * *

When one week later, Sawamura felt Miyuki's aura getting close to the Gild, he was more than surprised. Furuya had already gotten back from the mission two days ago, telling Sawamura that he had been able to speak with Miyuki about Sawamura's words. He didn't want to say anything about the mission, though, avoiding him again and it was enough to make him practice in the field again, even when everyone else was resting. Even Kuramochi, who had come with Sawamura to practice – he was a paladin too and he knew many amazing moves – had left already.

The little elf looked at Sawamura expectantly, its wings humming quietly.

"Um… Can you bring him here?" Sawamura couldn't get used to those little things.

They were dolls charmed by alchemists and dark magicians that could carry messages about waiting guests, but it was possible to communicate with the person in reception by speaking to them. When, after a few seconds, the little elf nodded and flew back to the main building, Sawamura thought he was understood.

The first time he had seen one of those things, he had almost hit it with a broom, thinking it was a particularly big fly. Masuko-kunine gave him quite earful for that.

It was even harder to concentrate on practicing sword fighting, when Miyuki was so close. His powers were filling the air, long before Sawamura could see him. He took a deep breath, surprised at how much he missed feeling those powers close. Suddenly, the prospect of talking to Miyuki wasn't so terrifying anymore; Miyuki could laugh at him all he wanted, if that meant they could spend more time together.

The paladin put down his sword and grabbed the towel to wipe off his face. For some reason, he didn't want Miyuki to see him dirty.

The air buzzed, Sawamura's own powers raised, and there was Miyuki, strolling towards the field. He was wearing the typical brown robes of a dark magician student with a small sword at his side. The little elf was flying in front of him, and Miyuki was apparently talking to it fondly; even in the distance, Sawamura could see his smile, and that made his stomach jump. He couldn't remember seeing Miyuki smiling before.

For the first time, Sawamura was happy that the practice field was behind all the other fields used for classes, the farthest from the dorms, and the buildings with classes. It was inconvenient, when he was dying from hunger and had to walk a long way to reach dorms, but right now, it was something Sawamura was glad for it. Even students who simply wanted to enjoy their Sunday afternoon outside usually stayed in the park or close to the fields for classes, not going so far out. Considering what they were going to talk about, it was better that there was no one on the field besides the two of them.

Sawamura tried to explain how he knew Miyuki had already found out about batteries, but he couldn't. Every time he thought about batteries, he felt annoyed, yet not exactly. It was like that annoyance wasn't a part of him, like someone close to him was getting annoyed and Sawamura didn't even try to think of what that could even mean – just the word ' _emotional bond_ ' usually appeared in his mind then.

"Look at this, isn't it my favorite paladin?" Up close, Sawamura could notice that Miyuki looked tired; his magic wanted to reach for the magician, but Sawamura stopped that impulse. "A little birdie with a bow told me that you wanted to see me?" Miyuki's hand suddenly shot towards Sawamura.

He raised his own hand to protect himself, but Miyuki only laughed and messed his hair, smirking.

"Jumpy kitten," he teased. "You sure have the guts to summon an older student."

"Eh… Sorry about that?" Sawamura petted down his hair. "And don't call me that, Miyuki Kazuya!"

Miyuki's lips widened in an awfully bright smile.

"How? A kitten?" When Sawamura started to yell at him, Miyuki simply laughed aloud.

Then he spotted a blanket on which Sawamura put his sword and, without asking, he sat there, looking at Sawamura expectantly.

"You have ten minutes," he announced. "I only came here to give a report from the last mission to the Gild. I cannot stay for long."

Sawamura knew that. Unlike with Oasis, guests could freely walk around the Gild's schoolground (the Oasis' headmistress claimed that too many strangers had disturbed the magic of her school), but it didn't look good if they stay too long. They were supposed to do what they had come to do and then leave.

At the mention of that mission, Sawamura bristled, his aura giving away a sensation of annoyance. At that, Miyuki's teasing expression changed and his gaze became hard like steel when looking at Sawamura behind his rounded glasses.

"Something wrong?" Miyuki asked. "Your control has improved… not very much… and I feel you are annoyed. And angry." He added, after a second, with a furrowed forehead like it was an afterthought.

"I need to talk with you." Promising himself to stay calm, Sawamura sat on the opposite side of the blanket, facing Miyuki.

Who laughed.

"That serious expression doesn't suit you, kitten." Miyuki took Sawamura's bottle of water and sipped from it, completely ignoring Sawamura's outraged ' _it's mine!'_. "Tell me, what is it?"

Sawamura took a deep breath. It was just like Miyuki to try to annoy him – master Chris mentioned a few times how it was sometimes hard to talk with that magician.

"I looked for information about why we could s-sense each other." Sawamura confessed.

In the next second, Miyuki was leaning towards him, pressing a finger to his own lips.

"Not so loud!"

"I am quiet!" Sawamura screamed. Seeing Miyuki's raised eyebrow and pursed lips, he quickly added in more quiet voice. "There is no one around us."

"I know." Miyuki was still sitting close, almost on Sawamura's lap and he was uncomfortable aware of the smell on the other's shampoo and soap, the warmth of the other body. "But a teacher can come here, if you keep yelling." Finally, Miyuki moved back and Sawamura told himself it was a good thing, no matter how much his magic was disagreeing with him in that matter. Miyuki's powers were so close… "And? Did you find something?" Miyuki asked in a voice which clearly suggested he didn't think Sawamura was capable of finding _anything_.

Sawamura was going to show him!

"I found something about… about batteries." He admitted and gulped, preparing himself for Miyuki's anger or annoyance.

However, he didn't expect laughter.

"Don't tell me you believe in that crap!" Miyuki almost doubled over from laughter. "It's simply a children's legend!"

And just like that, instead of getting angry or annoyed himself, Sawamura was suddenly painfully aware about what it was Miyuki doing.

"You're lying." He said in tone of absolute confidence.

Miyuki stopped laughing and he looked at Sawamura with narrowed eyes.

"What did you say, kitten?"

"I said that you are lying." Sawamura repeated, not taking the bait. He knew it, he was sure about it as much as he was sure about his own name. "You haven't found any other possible explanation… but you tried," he added in sudden realization. "You tried, yet nothing else sounds even half plausible."

Just like those weeks ago when Sawamura had been sure that Miyuki had thought about batteries already, Sawamura knew he was right this time. He didn't know why though. It was almost as if he could read Miyuki's feelings…

Miyuki turned his head right; in the shade provided by the tree behind them, it was hard to see his expression.

"Plausible?" Miyuki snorted. "Just because some fairy tales describe what we can feel –"

"— in every detail doesn't mean they are true?" This time Sawamura snorted and Miyuki's lips tightened. "You… when you helped me in controlling my magic, I… I felt very happy. My magic was happy and your magic felt like my own."

Miyuki turned his face slowly towards Sawamura, but it was void of any emotion. He didn't leave yet, which Sawamura counted as a success.

"I somehow knew you didn't believe in batteries. And it's okay!" Sawamura quickly added, gesturing wildly. "But didn't your magic feel better then too? Don't you feel like… connecting it again?"

Because that was everything Sawamura could think about. Almost two months without Miyuki's magic mixing with his own was slowly driving him crazy and something was telling him it was the same for Miyuki.

Miyuki's shoulders dropped and he sighed heavily.

"I'd be a fool, if I tried to pretend I don't understand." He scowled at the wide smile of Sawamura, but the paladin couldn't help it; he won this round! "I think there is a different explanation, but our powers… They do like to be together, don't they?" Miyuki's powers brushed against naked skin on Sawamura's shoulders.

For Sawamura, it was like a written invitation.

He let go of his powers, slowly, letting it join Miyuki's powers without causing any disturbance. Sawamura didn't want any of professors to feel that something weird was going on.

Their powers linked together, this time without visualizing itself, but it still felt good. Sawamura felt how the tension was leaving his body and he could see how more relaxed Miyuki was starting to be. The magician even threw his head back and closed his eyes in pleasure; for some reason that opened, relaxed face looked a bit too intimate for Sawamura's eyes.

He didn't want to break this pleasant atmosphere, but he had too many questions to ask and he knew that Miyuki didn't have much time left.

"What are we going to do now?" Sawamura asked, stretching his arms above his head. Not only did he feel more relaxed, but also less tired after his private practice. "Miyuki?"

"Apparently, we need to regularly join our powers." Miyuki mused, still with his eyes closed. "It would look weird, if we suddenly started to meet, but…"

"But?" Sawamura prompted and when Miyuki didn't respond, he kicked the magician's leg. "But what?"

"Aren't you too curious, kitten?" Miyuki kicked him back, without any strength behind it, and stood up. "Go on. We will fight."

… What?

"What?" Sawamura gaped at Miyuki. "How the hell is this going to help?!"

Miyuki sighed something very close to 'I'm with an idiot', before answering:

"Chris says you are quite the skilled paladin." Sawamura's face beamed. Master really had said that about him?! Miyuki rolled his eyes. "If we show how good we are at teamwork, I could visit you more often."

Sawamura's eyes widened. He didn't think about it! Hadn't his teachers mentioned that warriors and magicians, who could join their magic powers, made a good team? They could enhance each other's strength and work better at fighting beasts. Not to mention the fact that Miyuki Kazuya was a genius, who didn't work with many warriors. Only a second year, yet he was already going on missions with the fourth and fifth years from the Gild and Oasis, but the rumour was that he couldn't properly join his powers in a fight with any of the warriors.

Sawamura remembered how he had been surprised, when he had learnt that from Kuramochi (almost as much as when he had heard that Miyuki was a genius magician, because how could someone as mischievous as him be one?). He almost had spilled out how _he_ could link his powers with Miyuki. If they fought, they would certainly attract the attention of teachers, but if they proved to be a good team, no one would bat an eye if Miyuki kept visiting Sawamura more often.

Sawamura stood up too, taking his sword from the blanket. It was a gift from his parents and Sawamura was using it only in his private practice sessions: a long, double-edged sword with flames around the handle and a place for protection charm in the hilt.

"You're going to lose, Miyuki Kazuya!" Sawamura moved his hand along the blade, putting a shield charm over it.

"I'll make you eat those words." Miyuki smiled in a predatory way and Sawamura's stomach jumped again. "But firstly… it's enough, don't you think?"

Sawamura nodded, knowing what Miyuki meant. They couldn't face each other, if their powers were connected. Sawamura could not understand a word in rhetorical magic classes, but even he knew that one thing, even if he didn't know why. Miyuki probably knew, he thought, taking his powers back, letting go of Miyuki's magic.

He didn't had time to ask about it, though. The moment their powers disconnected, Miyuki attacked.

For now, Sawamura had only heard how magicians fought. He was used to fighting other warriors, even if archers were quite a pain in the ass to fight with. But dark magicians? He had to be quick, outsmart them, and move close enough for his attacks to be efficient.

Which was definitely easier in theory.

A ball of fire flight next to Sawamura's face; he dodged it and swung his sword in Miyuki's direction, sending a wave of heat. Miyuki blocked it with one hand, raising the other one, with something like an ice ring floating above it. Sawamura had a split of a second to raise his sword before icicles were flung at him. He avoided the biggest ones, smoothly moving between flying objects, wishing he had taken his shield with him.

Sawamura sent another wave of heat and immediately, after that, he stomped on the ground, hard, making it shake under Miyuki's legs – it was something that he had just recently learnt. Miyuki's eyes narrowed in annoyance, when he almost feel down, and he moved his right hand in a complicated pattern. This time it was Sawamura, who had to use a shield spell, when Miyuki charmed a stream of water out of thin air.

Sawamura was surprised that, despite not being able to come closer to Miyuki (the bastard _was_ good, indeed), he had fun fighting against him. Sure, Miyuki blocked every one of his attacks without even breaking a sweat, but their powers were corresponding to each other, singing beautifully in Sawamura's ears. It was hard to fight Miyuki, but also fun.

Still, Sawamura would prefer if their little fights didn't end up with him lying on his back.

Four times in a row.

"I think it's enough, don't you think?" Miyuki laughed, sitting in the air and looking at Sawamura like a content cat. Freaking magicians. "You did quite well… is something I'd say if I fought with a five years old."

In the act of great maturity, Sawamura stuck his tongue out him.

"Shut up. This is the first time I've ever fought against a magician." He mumbled, standing up and walking towards his sword lying a few meters away.

Something dark passed through Miyuki's face, but it was gone so quickly Sawamura thought he had merely imagined it.

"I know I was the first." Miyuki said, standing back on the ground.

It was a weird thing to say and it make something in Sawamura's stomach flutter.

"I see we will have company soon." Miyuki pointed behind himself. On the path to the field, Sawamura could see a person walking towards them; it looked like professor Lima, a knight. "We've attracted attention, now it's time for a combined attack."

Sawamura cocked his head.

"Huuh? I thought it would be enough if we fought each other ."

Miyuki's gaze clearly spoke volumes about what he thought about Sawamura's thinking skills.

"We have to show how our powers work together, not against each other. By fighting, we generated enough power to make our presence known, so now, we should cast a spell together." Miyuki hummed, looking between Sawamura and one of practice dummies. "I'll cast the spell."

"Why?" Sawamura asked. "It's my practice, after all."

Miyuki looked at him curiously.

"Do you think you can cast any charms by simply joining our powers, without letting them mix?" When Sawamura shook his head, Miyuki nodded to himself. "I thought so."

Sawamura had to admit that Miyuki had a point. From all warriors, paladins' magic powers were very similar to magicians. Knights stored their own powers in jewels and used them during battle; their own magic was making them naturally stronger. Archers' magic allowed them to cast simple, offensive spells on their arrows to make them move quickly – they were the fastest of the warriors class. Lancers, similarly to knights, could store their powers in jewels, but they were taking it mostly from the nature around them. Paladins, on the other hand were physically weaker than lancers and knights, but could use stronger offensive and defensive spells than archers. Sawamura wouldn't be able to create fire in his hands like Miyuki had done, but he was able to charm his sword to burn and make little balls of fire by swinging it at his enemies. Both paladins and archers needed a medium to use their magic, unlike magicians. Still, even without a medium to use their magical powers, they were much stronger physically than non-magical people _and_ magicians.

"Stand next to me and slowly release your magic." Sawamura did that with a deep breath. His magic wanted to rush to Miyuki's, but he calmed it down. If everything went well, they would have lot more occasions in the future to link their magic.

Miyuki put his arm around Sawamura's shoulders, who felt himself blushing.

"What are you—"

"We need to maintain physical contact." Miyuki whispered. "At least at the beginning. Now focus and let me led you." Sawamura nodded, not wanting to say that it was hard to focus with Miyuki being so close to him.

Miyuki reached for Sawamura's powers, but it wasn't like before. This time, they didn't let their powers mix or more like Miyuki didn't let them do that. Instead, he formed a spell using both of their magic and Sawamura could feel the difference. The sensation wasn't as great as when their powers mixed, but the fire charm in Miyuki's hand looked strong enough – definitely stronger than when Miyuki had been creating it during their spar using only his own magic.

And the practice dummy exploded in a really satisfying matter.

"I guess it will suffice enough." Miyuki muttered, pulling Sawamura closer towards himself. "They'll probably yell at us for practicing without permission, but everything should end well. I'll prepare you for your first mission. It's in a month, right?"

Sawamura, still dazed by the close proximity of Miyuki and their powers, blinked, processing Miyuki's words. It didn't help that Miyuki was still holding him or that his powers wrapping themselves around Sawamura like a warm cocoon.

Wait a second.

"What do you mean they will yell at us?!" Sawamura grabbed Miyuki by the front of his robes.

The magician had the audacity to snicker.

"I forgot to mention that?"

Scratch every single nice thing Sawamura had thought before about this useless magician.

"YES, YOU FORGOT, YOU DAMN FOUR-EYES!" Did it mean they couldn't practice together?

Miyuki didn't even pretend to look innocent, only laughing louder, while Sawamura was yelling at him for not telling him the whole truth and, gods, professor Lima looked pissed off.

"MIYUKI KAZUYA, YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

* * *

Three weeks later and Miyuki hadn't paid for that yet.

Of course, Miyuki could have warned Sawamura that they must have permission for joint practice, but where was fun in that? On the other hand, Sawamura could have used his brain and realize that something was fishy; guests couldn't walk around the Gild alone, but they could practice? Really?

Miyuki put down the pen and looked at his essay about the uses of tiger lilies in potions. It took him quite a bit time to finish it, but he was satisfied with the result. Only a few more months of learning the other classes of magicians basics of magic of and he would be free to study only what he wanted. The Oasis' administration insisted that the first two years should be spent learning about other kinds of magic than their own. Miyuki didn't mind it too much, finding potions and alchemy fun, but he didn't hide the fact that sometimes he would want to burrow himself under a huge mountain of books about dark magic and never see a ray of sunlight ever again. Sawamura would throw a fit, Miyuki thought, amused.

He didn't regret asking Sawamura to practice with him. Miyuki still wanted to find an explanation other than 'we are a battery', yet he couldn't lie to himself that some things about batteries didn't apply to them. Well, not exactly; Miyuki tried to lie to himself, but his mood was getting worse the longer he didn't see Sawamura and he had been spending too much time at just relishing in the sensation of feeling Sawamura so close, just at the other side of the city. Joint practice could let them mix their powers often enough for both of them to not feel any side effects – when Sawamura's face had relaxed, during the first time in weeks when they had mixed their powers, Miyuki felt a little pang of guilt. Sawamura had been looking for him before and Miyuki had hid, not wanting to face the reality.

That they might not be a battery, but they needed to be close.

Of course, they ended up getting quite the earful from that knight professor, later from the paladin professor, and in the end they had to go and have a talk with headmaster Sakaki in his office. The whole time, Sawamura had been shaking like a scared kitty, but he had been quite voiceful about how he had been the one responsible, not Miyuki. Idiot. He didn't need to protect Miyuki; for once, Miyuki had decided to use his own fame for his advantage. Still, even he had felt fear, when facing the Gild's headmaster.

The knights' professor had told Sakaki how she was able to sense their magic, when they had been fighting each other, and how later their magic mixed to cast the spell. Since Miyuki often went on missions with Gild's students, Sakaki knew about his problem with finding a warrior with whom he could cast spells. It was only a matter of minutes before Sakaki had contacted Oasis and it was decided that he and Sawamura could practice together on the Gild's grounds.

Miyuki could have done all of that just for the sake of his own well being, however he intended to practice with Sawamura and they did practice. He was surprised at the way Sawamura had attacked him the first time they fought, knowing full well that mindlessly charging at the magician was useless. Sawamura had been quick, his magic was strong, his moves precise. He hadn't been the best sparring partner, but it was easy to see his talent, and Miyuki had to admit that he'd had quite a fun time sparring with Sawamura.

He had been having fun, for the past three weeks. They could meet every two or three days to practice. Sometimes, Sawamura's friends would join them; a few times, Miyuki had spotted Mei in the distance, but he never came to them and Miyuki didn't insist. Speaking about Sawamura's friends…

Miyuki snickered to himself and started to put his books to the bag. Sawamura was awfully jealous about his mission with that archer, Furuya, and he couldn't help but be a little bit of an asshole about it. After all, it was pushing Sawamura to become a better paladin; Miyuki didn't plan to tell Sawamura in the near future that he and Furuya weren't the best mission partners.

Oh, the kid was talented, Miyuki could see it. During the entrance exam, he had been the one to shoot the most – and the quickest - arrows at the beast. But that was his problem: he wasn't the best at controlling his powers and his aim was a bit off. There were times when the kid was literally in the zone, shooting arrows perfectly. But, more often than not, he was finding himself to miss his target and often wound up just cornering a beast, without being able to kill it. In a way, he was like Sawamura: a lot of raw power, quite the potential, but a terrible control.

Also, Miyuki scowled, remembering their first mission, he was spending too much time listening to Ochiai.

Professor Ochiai didn't hide the fact that Furuya was his pet project and Miyuki would be a hypocrite for saying something about it – not when he himself was a pet project of Rei and professor Kunitomo's. But where Miyuki worked hard to maintain his status of brilliant prodigy, Furuya seemed to be more and more content with how he was. Even when he joined Miyuki and Sawamura to practice, he was more interested in simply taking Miyuki's powers to enhance his own spells, instead of trying to cooperate. As far as Miyuki could tell he almost didn't practice that much, happy with how things were.

Miyuki didn't fancy the idea of being a living bag of powers for someone to use. At least Sawamura tried to maintain some kind of balance, taking Miyuki's powers, but also giving his own.

With a sigh, Miyuki took the books from off the table and went between shelves to put them back. Miss Rei would have his head, if he left those books out in the open; they belonged to the restricted part of the library that required Miyuki to get written permission from the higher up's every time he wanted to take them out . Books that had spells on how to summon demons weren't exactly something many people should be able to read.

Kneeling to put away one of books, Miyuki frowned. Everything looked the way he had left it a few hours before, yet something was amiss. He murmured a small spell to reveal any magical aura left. He could sense his own and miss Rei's – she was in this part of the library with Miyuki in the morning – but other than that, nothing.

Huh. Maybe he was simply getting paranoid.

Suddenly, a tense, sharp pain close to his temples almost made Miyuki double over. He blindly grabbed one of bookshelves, knocking down books as he tried to keep himself from falling down. The pain was gone as quickly as it came , but Miyuki still felt scared, hurt, and angry. It was a weird combination and he immediately knew what had happened.

Sawamura.

If there was one of thing Miyuki didn't want to admit that was happening, that emotional bond was one of them. The more they practiced together, the easier it was for him to feel any strong emotion Sawamura felt – Miyuki had been working at adjusting the shield charm to block some of the emotions. He didn't know if Sawamura could sense Miyuki's emotions too and he didn't want to ask.

Normally, those emotions were happy ones; that was the first time Miyuki felt something negative. He shivered, despite himself. Today was the first time Sawamura and the rest of first years had gone on their first official mission. Miyuki knew that Sawamura was in the same group as Furuya and that small, pink haired lancer, the younger brother of Ryousuke-kunine. There was also another paladin and a lancer with them, and their keeper was Ochiai – something Sawamura had been very vocal about.

Miyuki closed his eyes, focusing on his magic powers. It wasn't like he could feel Sawamura's presence the whole time – he would probably have gone mad otherwise and be sent to the nuthouse– and for the first time, Miyuki wished for something else. His own magic was buzzing, showing perfectly the inner turmoil Miyuki was feeling at that moment. Using miss Rei's favorite exercise, Miyuki imaged himself standing on the map, sending waves of magic in every direction like a bat using waves to avoid danger. It didn't take Miyuki long to find Sawamura; the paladin's magic was like a burning flame behind Miyuki's eyelids. He was alive.

Relief washed over Miyuki; he didn't even realize how tense he was, praying the worst hadn't happened.

But what had happened to prompt such reaction from Sawamura? Miyuki started to put back the books he had knocked over back upon their respected shelves, thinking hard. The kitten was usually so cheerful it could be annoying and it was their first mission. It should be easy, controlled by their guardian from the beginning all the way down to the end. Miyuki disliked Ochiai, almost as much as Mei, but the old lancer was a good warrior. Even if they had encountered something dangerous, Ochiai should have been able to handle it alone within the blink of an eye.

Miyuki chewed on his bottom lip, looking at the books in front of him with unseeing eyes. Sawamura's group should be back tomorrow's morning, if nothing bad had happened. Miyuki didn't have any classes tomorrow and so he could wait for the whole group in front of the Gild. He huffed, shaking his head. Gods, he was behaving like one of those characters from the romance novels kitten liked to read so much. Still, he needed to know what had happened!

Adjusting the bag on his shoulder, Miyuki decided to visit the Gild after dinner ended. It would give Sawamura enough time to refresh himself and to rest, and it wouldn't look as if Miyuki could feel that something was wrong – even if that had just happened.

* * *

Miyuki came to the Gild the next day, right after their dinner had ended, telling himself he wasn't walking fast because he needed to see Sawamura; but rather it was because there were gray, storm clouds gathering on the horizon. As usual, the autumn was warm, but still rainy, and Miyuki most definitely preferred not to get wet.

He had even bought a box of chocolate to celebrate Sawamura's first mission. He had felt silly buying it, but something had been telling him that it was a good idea and that it would bring the other's spirits up. And it happened to be one of his own favorite chocolate flavor, so it was like buying something for himself, honestly.

Yet, there was unpleasant surprise waiting for him in the reception of the main building.

"They are not here yet?" Miyuki repeated, surprised.

The receptionist shook his head, smiling at him in apologetic way. He was an older man with only tuft of grey hair left and very wrinkled face.

"I'm afraid, young man." The old man said slowly and pointed at the big book at his desk. "I write down the names of anyone who enters the Gild, whether they're a student or not. Your paladin hasn't come back from the mission yet."

Another with that phrase ' _your paladin_ '. Master Kunitomo and Rei used it too, and it annoyed Miyuki without end. Kitten, err – Sawamura wasn't _his;_ he didn't own him, they just worked together, their magic was compatible, and they could, apparently, sense each other's emotions and presence. Miyuki was old enough to admit that he would get pissed off if Sawamura was sent on a mission with a different magician…

But Sawamura wasn't his!

Miyuki licked his lips.

"Can you just tell me if something happened?"

At that, the old man looked sharply at Miyuki , no longer looking like he was standing with one leg in the grave.

"And what do you think something happened?" he asked in turn, his long, bony fingers tapping the desk in what Miyuki had first assumed was clear annoyance.

"Well, Sawamura told me that they would be back this morning, unless something bad happened." Miyuki answered honestly. That was truth.

Another tap; something was off here.

"Even if something happened, it would be a personal matter of the Gild, young man." Another tap.

That tapping was slowly getting on Miyuki's nerves. The old man was looking at him emotionlessly, tapping on the desk and… Miyuki's eyes widened. That rhythm of tapping was familiar to him…thinking back to his first year, he, along with the rest of his classmates, had been taught in class how to delay secret messages in times of dire need, and tapping had been one of them; he got it, the old man wasn't pissed off at him, he was delaying a message to him; his tapping was code for 'yes' and 'help'.

So something did happen.

Miyuki checked around carefully to see if anyone was observing them. Thankfully, those little students passing by them were too busy talking. All of them were talking lively, many of them gesticulating, some of them could barely maintain control over their powers. And Miyuki, the supposed brilliant magician sensitive to such uncontrolled powers, had been so focused on Sawamura, he hadn't even noticed that.

Not breaking eye contact with the receptionist, Miyuki nodded once, sharply, and moved his gaze to the man's fingers and back to his face.

The receptionist smiled at him, understanding that Miyuki realized that something bad had happened.

"You can try to visit your paladin later. Maybe tomorrow's morning?"

Tomorrow's morning, Miyuki had a test in alchemy, but the receptionist's voice strongly suggested that Sawamura would be free to talk in the morning.

There was no choice to make; Miyuki simply had to visit Sawamura.

"I'll try to see if I have time," Miyuki replied and then mouthed a quick 'thank you'. The receptionist coughed into his palm, hiding a chuckle.

Miyuki started to turn to the exit when his gaze fell upon the elf dolls. There were more people at the Gild he could question after all.

* * *

As it turned out, Miyuki had been mistaken. Chris-kunine wasn't at the Gild in this moment – he was called to visit his sick father – and Mei politely told – via the little elf – Miyuki to wait if 'politely' could be called a suggestion for Miyuki to shove his questions. Feeling a bit desperate, Miyuki tried even reaching Sawamura's roommates. He was partially successful. He didn't get any information about what had happened, but Kuramochi's message sounded as if Sawamura wasn't hurt. That was good, yet Miyuki couldn't shake off the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

While he was waiting for the elf messengers to come back, he could see some of groups of first years coming back – not all groups were supposed to be back in the morning like Sawamura's. Most of students looked sad and they were whispering among each other, throwing careful glances at Miyuki as if making sure he wasn't listening.

Miyuki tried to listen, but with teachers in the reception he didn't dare to cast any spells to eavesdrop. He and Kanemaru, another friend of Sawamura, happened to look at each other at the same time; Kanemaru could only shake his head and Miyuki cursed under his breath.

Realizing there was no use in waiting, Miyuki finally said 'goodbye' to the old receptionist and went back to the Oasis. The sky was a cloudy, dark blue, treating with rain. Miyuki was so deep in his thoughts about what could have happened, he doubt he would notice if it started to rain.

Since the moment he heard Sawamura wasn't at the Gild yet, Miyuki was deliberately sensing his presence. Indeed, Sawamura was far away from the Gild – Miyuki cursed himself for not checking it before. He was moving slowly towards the city though and should be here today's evening. Good. That gave Miyuki enough time to try to look for information. He hated going anywhere not prepared.

* * *

The next morning, Sawamura said he didn't want to see anyone. The day after that, the same thing happened. In the next morning too.

"He is upset." The receptionist, Ota, said, as if that explained everything.

Maybe it did.

It took Miyuki two days to get to know what happened; he pestered Mei enough to make the knight talk and had promised to spar with him. Till the time Mei started speaking, Miyuki had heard the most wild rumours from party members attacking each other to acts of cannibalism. To most to them, Miyuki hadn't even paid attention, immediately realizing they were fake – he knew Sawamura was alive, after all – but the amount of rumours in the Oasis spoke for itself: something big had happened.

And when Mei told Miyuki everything, Miyuki was surprised the Gild managed to hide _that_ as a secret for so long.

Normally, Miyuki wasn't a person to chase other people. If someone wished to stop talking with him, it was fine. But when Sawamura refused to talk with him for the fifth day in a row, Miyuki started to worry, instead of getting angry or giving up. His magic was urging him to get close to Sawamura, the emotional bond between them was leaking with sadness and Miyuki felt as if his sanity was in danger.

They had to talk.

* * *

Finally, Miyuki had enough.

Gild was situated in the outskirts of the city, with the dorms being the closest to the stony walls, which was very helpful in what Miyuki was planning to do. He knew from Mei when the guards were passing the wall and it was easy to cast an invisible charm over himself and climb up the wall. Granted, if he tried to do something like that at night or close to the main building, he would immediately be caught, but who would suspect someone trying to break into the dorms in the middle of the day?

Plus, having Mei, who stopped the guards with some ridiculous questions helped too.

Miyuki didn't even want to know how much he owed the blond knight.

It was time for classes, but Miyuki knew he would find Sawamura in dorms. Firstly, he could feel Sawamura's presence at dorms and secondly, during his mornings' visits at the Gild, he had seen Kuramochi and Masuko-kunine, Sawamura's roommates. Both of them didn't – couldn't – want to tell him what exactly had happened, but they had told him that Sawamura refused to left the dorms unless it was absolutely needed. He tried to attend classes , but the paladins' guardian, professor Kataoka, ordered him to rest. They all hoped Sawamura would burn his sadness out on a practice field – which was something he usually did – but this time their hope was futile. Instead of going outside, Sawamura only stayed inside.

Miyuki could see that no matter how much Kuramochi was growling at Sawamura, he cared for the paladin. It made him a little happy. With how much Sawamura struggled to make friends with students, who were afraid of him or thought about him as a freak, he had managed to form quite strong bonds with a few people.

Miyuki sneaked between the trees growing close to the dorm, the invisible charm wearing off. It was a difficult spell to cast and Miyuki hadn't properly mastered it.

Yet.

There was a matter of how to get into dorms of course. Miyuki was considering screaming 'fire!' to make the receptionist from the dorms leave her place, but there was an option of some of the professors coming there and Miyuki didn't want that to happen. He could also wait a few minutes longer and try casting invisible charm at himself again. Casting it so soon after the other just managed to disappear would leave him invisible for only a minute, maybe two but that should be enough to run to the staircase, right?

Before Miyuki could make a decision, he suddenly felt a strong magic aura behind himself.

 _Shit_.

"Look who we have here."

Gulping, Miyuki turned around, already knowing in how big troubles he was. How could he not sense the magic of the headmaster?!

"Oh, don't be too hard on yourself, my young magician. That frown on your face will only give you wrinkles… You did quite an outstanding job sneaking in here." Sakaki chuckled, putting hands into pockets of his coat; Miyuki could see the handle of the sword at his waist. "You're just years too young to fool me."

Miyuki stood up; there was no need to kneel behind the bush anymore if he was caught. He licked his dry lips, trying to find proper words to be allowed to visit Sawamura, _and_ not be kicked out from the Oasis.

Yeah, it wasn't his best day.

However, Sakaki raised his hand when Miyuki opened his mouth, silencing the magician.

"Well, I told him you should visit us in the daytime next time." What? Miyuki blinked. It didn't sound like Sakaki wanted to kick him out from the Gild – literally. "Normally, I'd haul you to the Oasis by your ear…" Miyuki didn't like that little smile on the headmaster's face. "But things aren't normal, huh?"

Huh?

Miyuki thought he had to look very confused, because the headmaster laughed and simply patted his shoulder; the strength of that left Miyuki's shoulder numb. For an old man, Sakaki sure _was_ strong.

"Go to your paladin, magician." Sakaki pointed at the dorm. "And don't worry, Cassandra won't stop you."

For the first time in his life, Miyuki didn't know what to say.

"You're letting me go, sir?" That… he didn't expect that.

Sakaki hummed.

"Would you prefer me to kick you out?" He asked and Miyuki shook his head. "I thought so. But next time," he added lauder, when Miyuki already turned towards the entrance to the dorms, "don't try it again or I will have to act like a true headmaster of this school."

"Yes, sir!" It wasn't even funny how much Miyuki wanted to salute when he saw Sakaki's serious expression.

No wonder people still feared him.

Just like Sakaki had promised, the receptionist, Cassandra, didn't even bat an eye when she saw Miyuki.

"The second floor, room number fifty five." She told him and went back to reading, swirling a strand of blonde hair around her finger.

Did everyone in this crazy school know he wanted to see Sawamura?

Miyuki barely managed to reach the first floor, when he sound sense Sawamura's aura in the air. Even without the emotional bond between then, he could tell just how sad Sawamura was. Sensing that hurt Miyuki, as he wasn't used to such a strong feeling of depression.

"Sawamura? Open the door, I know you are there." Miyuki knocked, but he was already preparing a spell to destroy the door if he had to. "I will get inside, whether or not you want me to or not."

Sawamura was still quiet. Deciding that something had to be done, Miyuki raised his hands. A small, almost charmless exploding spell wouldn't make anyone from Gild's administration scream at him for too long, right? Yet, when he raised his hands to cast the spell, the loud ' _Just get inside, it's opened!'_ could be heard and after a moment ' _Jerk!'_ came following after.

Not feeling triumphant at all, Miyuki walked inside. It was the first time he was in Sawamura's room. It wasn't big, his and Ono's back at the Oasis was much bigger, but it looked cozy, even with the pieces of clothing lying about everywhere. Miyuki's lips trembled when he saw that; Ono would immediately start to tidy the room.

The slight movement on Miyuki's left reminded him why exactly he was there.

Sawamura was sitting on the bottom bed of the bunk bed. His clothes were crumpled, skin ash-like, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he didn't sleep, eat, or wash – and Miyuki knew all of those things were true.

"I don't want to practice today," Sawamura said. He was looking down and suddenly, Miyuki wanted those bright, burning with passion eyes look at him. "Just wanted to tell you that."

"And you think it's enough to make me leave?" With a huff, Miyuki strode over to Sawamura's side and plopped down on the bed to him.

Sawamura tried to stand, but Miyuki quickly grabbed him by his shoulder. Normally, Sawamura would be too strong for Miyuki to hold him, but now he was too weak from lack of sleep and eating. He couldn't do much, when Miyuki pinned him against the wall, only bend his head to hit the bed above them.

"Sawamura, you need to talk."

Sawamura finally looked at Miyuki; his eyes were empty, as if there was no life in him left and Miyuki's fingers unconsciously tightened on Sawamura's shoulders. The paladin didn't even move.

"There is nothing to talk about." He whispered, weakly trying to push Miyuki from off his legs. "Let me go."

"I don't think so," Miyuki wiggled on Sawamura's thighs, not wanting to be kicked aside. "I want to hear this story from your mouth." Not only Mei couldn't tell too much detail, but also because Miyuki knew how petrifying it was to talk about something that awful.

Sawamura laughed without happiness and it was the worst sound Miyuki had ever hear. The paladin's powers raised, full of sadness, grief, and anger.

"You want to hear the story? You want it?" Miyuki was completely not prepared when Sawamura grabbed him by his arms, bringing them together closer. "You want me to tell you how I fucking failed?! You want to hear how I let Furuya go, how I didn't argue more to stop him, how I couldn't even fucking help reach him in time?! Do you want me to tell you what I see every time I close my eyes?! How I hear his screams over and over again?!" Sawamura was breathing hard, his gaze so venomous, Miyuki wasn't sure the paladin wouldn't simply attack him.

Despite his instinct telling him otherwise, Miyuki nodded.

"It will help," he promised in the most gentle voice he could muster.

Strength flew away from Sawamura. He stopped shaking in Miyuki's hold, his gaze was back to being empty.

"Let me go," he asked, again, and added. "I'll tell you, just… let me sit."

Miyuki wasn't sure if Sawamura would try to run away or kick him out, but he moved back, letting go of Sawamura. They sat more comfortably, with their backs against the wall, their shoulders brushing against each others. Sawamura was radiating so much sadness that it started to hurt Miyuki physically – damn his sensitivity to magic – but when he tried to link their powers, Sawamura only shook his head. For the first time, it was Miyuki who wanted them to link their powers, and Sawamura who didn't want it.

It hurt. Miyuki could understand why Sawamura acted that way, but it still hurt.

He was getting pathetic, wasn't he?

"Can you tell me everything?" Miyuki finally ask, observing Sawamura in the corner of his eye.

Sawamura nodded and wrapped his arms around his knees, as if he tried to hug himself. It was disturbing how much Miyuki was starting to miss that cheerful persona of Sawamura's; he didn't know how to deal with this person next to him.

"We got into an argument." Sawamura finally said, after opening and closing his mouth a few times. It was clear for Miyuki how much he was struggling to speak. "We killed wyrms, as it was requested, but, on our way back, we found traces of another beast." Sawamura hid his face between his arms and when Miyuki tried to put a hand on his back to comfort him he didn't shy away. Success.

"We talked about how we should tell someone about it. Kotes… that other paladin… was sure those were gryphon's marks. He saw them before. But Ochiai," Miyuki didn't think it was possible, but Sawamura managed to say that name with even more venom than Mei, "he said we should be able to take it down… that Furuya," Sawamura's fingers tightened on his shoulders so hard his fingertips turned white, "could take it down, because it wasn't his first mission and he had backup. I-I argued with them. Kotes and Haruichi too. Professor Tahara said gryphons were very dangerous creatures, the boss forbid us from fighting with one… but Ochiai said it was only a child gryphon… and F-Furuya said he wanted to try to hunt it down…"

Sawamura got quiet, yet Miyuki didn't press. He started to gently move his hand up and down Sawamura's back, letting his magic enclose around them, trying to make Sawamura feel better this way. Sawamura might not want to link their powers, but, even separately, their powers were enough to make the other one feel better.

It didn't surprise him that Furuya had wanted to hunt down the gryphon. Archers were natural born hunters and the possibility of getting to hunt something as rare and powerful as a gryphon… Hell, Miyuki himself wouldn't refuse something like that.

Miyuki heard how Sawamura took a long, shaky breath before he continued with his recollection of the traumatizing event. He was talking quicker and quicker, his voice raising:

"Furuya was ahead of us and we found the baby gryphon… and its' parent too." Miyuki's hand stilled. What?

From what Mei told him, Miyuki was sure that Sawamura's group had fought with a baby gryphon. One gryphon that wasn't even fully matured was enough to take down two or even three warriors. What's more they encountered a fully matured one?

Sawamura shivered, obviously battling bad memories.

"Ochiai told us to run away, but the baby gryphon had already attacked Kotes and when he tried to protect himself, that big gryphon got pissed at us for hitting his baby." Sawamura sounded so sad, so broken and Miyuki didn't know what to do. Couldn't do anything more than gently stroke Sawamura's back. "Furuya and Kotes wanted to help Ochiai… Raichi too, he's the best lancer in our class... Me and Haruichi fought the baby gryphon." Despite himself, Miyuki shivered. He had heard from Mei about size of that 'baby'. When it stood on its back legs, Sawamura would be smaller than it. Smaller and easy to hurt, just like when he had fought against the summoned beast months ago. "We took the gryphon down… we wanted to help the rest…" Sawamura was breathing so hard Miyuki was afraid he was going to hyperventilate. "F-Furuya wanted to get closer… he climbed up a tree… Ochiai hurt the gryphon's wings, it wasn't supposed… it wasn't…"

Sawamura got quiet again. Slowly, he turned his face toward Miyuki; he wasn't crying like Miyuki wished he would. Anything would be better from that blank expression.

"It sat down on its back legs, like my cat sometimes did." Sawamura whispered, looking somewhere above Miyuki's shoulder. "I immediately knew what it wanted to do… I think Raichi knew it too… but I wasn't fast enough. I was going to hit it, there was an opening, but I wasn't fast enough." Sawamura repeated with even more venom than when he was talking about Ochiai. "It jumped and…" Sawamura licked his lips and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Miyuki itched to say something, but he couldn't disturb Sawamura's talk. "Furuya didn't manage to dodge. Do you know how fast gryphons are?" Miyuki knew. Cat-like reflexes, thanks to their lion-like body combined with a relatively small weight made gryphons dangerously fast, no matter if one destroyed their wings or not. "Like wind. I didn't even notice that Furuya got hurt. It happened so fast, you know? I heard his scream and…" Sawamura gulped, his left hand – sword hand – shaking. "Ochiai killed the beast… and then I… we… Furuya was on the ground and I didn't remember him falling down... There was so much blood…"

"What about a healer?" Miyuki asked quietly, when it became obvious that Sawamura wasn't going to say anything else.

Every three groups of warriors had a healer close to their location. Their first missions were supposed to be very easy and they didn't know that there was a healer nearby. It was supposed to make them focus more on the task.

"He didn't know where we would be going," Sawamura replied. "Ochiai didn't inform him and he didn't even start looking for us until he and professors from other groups couldn't feel our powers when we started the fight… we got really away from the meeting point…"

Miyuki nodded. On missions, healers casted a spell to keep information about party members. When someone got hurt, they would know immediately. Which meant… Miyuki's eyes widened when the realization sunk in. He didn't hear that anyone else got as badly hurt as Furuya. What if the healer brushed off everyone's wounds as ones received by wild wyrms? A fully trained warrior is able of taking even a few wyrms on at once – they weren't the most powerful (or smart) monsters, so as long as Ochiai wasn't hurt, a healer would think everything was fine.

"They thought we fought wyrms… they thought it was silly how much powers we were using but… there wasn't supposed to be anything else…" The raw pain on Sawamura's face hurt Miyuki on levels he didn't understand. "Only when Furuya got hurt did the healer freak out."

"Did it take them long to find you?" Miyuki's hand moved up, to slide on Sawamura's back of neck and his hair. He felt like comforting a child. "Sawamura?"

"… No." Sawamura shook his head. "Me… I saw my dad working so many times and I couldn't stop the bleeding…" Sawamura's bottom lip started to tremble, but his face stayed free of showing any emotion. "The healer found us in the last moment."

The paladin's sad aura was suffocating Miyuki. He sat closer and pulled Sawamura to himself, letting the paladin lean against his side, Sawamura's hair brushing Miyuki's cheek.

"He won't be able to walk ever again." Sawamura mumbled so quiet Miyuki thought he didn't hear him. "Never. They said that, even if the healer was with us, the damage Furuya took to his spine was too great for even an expert healer to fix."

Miyuki hugged Sawamura more, unable to say anything. An archer unable to move? It was the end of Furuya's warrior carrier for. In his worst nightmares, Miyuki never imagined losing his powers; how awful it what be? And it wasn't like Furuya lost his powers. He still would have them. He would just never be able to use them anymore; he was bound to living out the rest of his life, sitting in a chair with wheels at home or bedridden, instead of running and going on missions.

Somehow, that was even worse.

For the first time, Sawamura reached with his magic out to Miyuki; just a simple touch and it immediately filled Miyuki with warmth. At his side, Sawamura gasped quietly.

"They wouldn't let me in the private, hospital room see him." Sawamura shifted, curling more into Miyuki. "I wanted to apologize –"

"To apologize?" Miyuki repeated. "You have nothing to apologize for." Not from Sawamura what had told him anyway.

The angry shift in Sawamura's aura cracked in air.

"I couldn't help him." Sawamura said hotly. Miyuki wanted to see his face in that moment, but Sawamura was looking down and Miyuki didn't want to press. "I wasn't fast enough! I'm a son of a healer and I couldn't –"

"Heal him?" Miyuki finished, bewildered. "If you were a healer, you wouldn't be on that mission."

"I couldn't even stop the bleeding, Miyuki!" Sawamura raised his head to look at Miyuki, his eyes shining dangerously with tears and magic. "He almost died on my hands!"

Miyuki carefully chose his next words, knowing full well that Sawamura could probably punch him for saying something bad.

"This is why, during normal missions, you usually have a healer with you. Remember, you are still just warrior students. I know you wanted to help, but…" Miyuki raised his head and gently pet Sawamura's hair. "Sometimes you just can't."

Sawamura's eyes shined even harder, his lips trembling more.

"I could… I could stop him…"

"You argued with him, right?" Sawamura nodded hesitantly and Miyuki pulled him against his side again, whispering into Sawamura's ear. "Your teacher, a person you had to listen to, gave you an order. It was Furuya who chose to go after that gryphon, not you. I know," he quickly added, when Sawamura snarled at him, "that Furuya didn't deserve his fate. Nobody deserves that. But don't blame yourself for other people's choices."

Sawamura was quiet for so long, Miyuki started to worry, but he finally spoke:

"Next time, I'll be stronger. I won't let anyone get hurt." Sawamura snuggled his face deeper into Miyuki's shoulder, his own shoulders shaking. "You will see."

"I'm sure about it."

Surprisingly, those words didn't sound like an insult. He knew what Sawamura was capable of and he knew how much better Sawamura could become if given time. Sawamura was quiet, pulling his magic back and Miyuki started to feel uncomfortably.

"Do you want me to go?"

Sawamura's breath hitched in his throat.

"C-could you stay a little longer?" Sawamura whispered, his voice hoarse.

"Of course." Miyuki tightened his arm around Sawamura. "As long as you need it." And it was a truth.

Miyuki didn't even get to count up to three, before a spasm ran through Sawamura's body and he started to shake again, Miyuki's shoulder getting more and more wet. Miyuki sighed with relief; for a person so open like Sawamura to not cry at all… It wouldn't be healthy. For anyone not crying after something as traumatizing as that had happened wouldn't be healthy.

Between Sawamura's sobs, Miyuki could hear him muttering 'I'm sorry', 'you didn't have to stay' and 'I only wanted to see him'. Miyuki wanted to do something to help, but all he could do was to hold his crying paladin closer to himself and wait.

 **cdn**


	4. Chapter 4

**Warnings for the chapter:** angst, language, graphic description of violence  
 **Chapter's Summary:** Things are getting dangerous, some things have to be told and there are things that don't have to be told at all.  
A/N: The last chapter is here! Thank you so much for your support, for all messages and comments. Again, big thanks to maniacani at tumblr and chenamila at tumblr for their amazing work, and to daiyabigbang at tumblr for hosting this event. It might be the last chapter, but definitely not the last story in this universe.  
I hope you will enjoy it; tell me what you think about it!

* * *

Chapter IV

 _This is your worst idea ever_ , Kanemaru said when Sawamura explained him what he wanted to do – he had said the same thing, when Sawamura had mischievously put soap into Ochiai's breakfast during their second week of school, so in Sawamura's mind his opinion didn't really count. But then Haruichi had told him the same, and Toujou had been looking as if Sawamura was planning to summon a demon. Only kunine Ryousuke had thought it was a good idea.

Huh. Maybe it _was_ a bad idea.

But Sawamura hadn't seen Miyuki in weeks and he was sick of it. Breaking into Oasis seemed like a fantastic idea until Sawamura found himself behind the thick walls of Oasis. Now, with guards passing him constantly, Sawamura was inclined to agree with his friends: it was a suicide mission.

The only good thing about this whole situation was that dorms were close to the park so Sawamura could hide between trees. Using a little bit of the hiding spell Miyuki had given him in little bag a few weeks ago, Sawamura was staying away from any guards gazes.

It was funny how much Gild's training was helping Sawamura break into Oasis. He was sure that. if he tried to actually break into any of the main buildings, he would be caught almost immediately, but moving through the Garden and Park were relatively easy. Sawamura was moving without making any sound, just like professor Kataoka had taught his class, hiding his magic aura according to master Chris's advice. Finally, he was dressed in the dark clothes that every second year was supplied with for courtesy of Kuramochi – Sawamura wasn't looking the moment Kuramochi realized that Sawamura had borrowed his clothes without permission. Anyway, his own school had taught him how to break into someone's house; was is that bad Sawamura was using that knowledge to his advantage now?

Sawamura ignored how he had been taught all those things to do right things like saving kidnapped people without being seen.

He was going to see Miyuki, no matter what! The last time they had seen each other was two weeks after that embarrassing breakdown Sawamura had had. Miyuki had let him cry as much as he wanted and had been visiting Sawamura almost every day to practice. Sawamura wanted to get stronger and he knew Miyuki also wanted the same for himself. Not to mention Sawamura's powers had been acting much better when Miyuki had been around. Right now, Sawamura had proper control over it again, but those first three weeks after the accident… Sawamura's control was almost completely broken.

They started to get along better. Sometimes Miyuki could visit Sawamura in his room and play board games with Masuko-kunine and Kuramochi while Sawamura was struggling with his homework. It was getting more and more hard to not see each other for days – which was something Sawamura wasn't ready to think about yet – but three weeks? Sawamura understood preparing for exams, but that was unacceptable! And so the plan to break into Oasis was formed.

Furthermore, Sawamura had something he needed Miyuki to see.

He was hiding behind the big oak, observing his surroundings carefully. According to his observations, no guard should show up within the next five minutes. It was enough time to begin the second part of his big plan! Well, maybe it was more of Haruichi's plan, but Sawamura still had his part in creating it. A small part, but still.

He had lent Haruichi the pen to write the plan down, after all.

Vowing to himself to pay more attention in strategy classes from now on and praying that none of students would want to look through any their window, Sawamura started climbing up the oak. He hadn't been in Oasis before, but from some of Miyuki's talks, he had been able to find out where Miyuki's room was. Or at least Sawamura hoped he was correct; it would be very, very bad if he knocked on the wrong window, right? But the higher he climbed, the more he could feel Miyuki's presence. Seemed like he was right!

Sawamura had barely managed to reach the higher branches of the tree, before a guard showed up. He stood up close to the trunk, leaves and shadows hiding him well enough from any curious eyes.

While waiting for the guard to go away, Sawamura had a chance to look closely at Oasis's grounds. While trying to reach the Park, he hadn't had time for sightseeing, but now he could admire the night view of the Oasis.

What a view it was! Sawamura climbed high enough to see the whole Garden and its famous, silver fountain with the colourful water. He was surprised to see how some of flowers were shining in the moonlight; it was the first time he was seeing such flowers. Behind the Garden was the main building of the school, looking like it was taken from a fairy tale with the many towers and enormous stairs leading up to the main door with a fancy railing. The main path leading from the school, through the Garden and Park to the dorms, was gleaming with gold light.

The guard finally walked away and Sawamura breathed with relief. He was ready to go to Miyuki now; Miyuki's aura was strong and Sawamura's own magic started to rise, wanting to reach to Miyuki's magic.

They hadn't seen each other for too long.

Slowly, Sawamura let go of the trunk. He turned around and, helping himself with his arms to maintain balance, he started to move forward at the speed of snails. The branch was cracking quietly under him, but Sawamura could feel it was far away from breaking down under him.

Finally, he reached his goal. There was light behind curtains which meant that Miyuki wasn't sleeping yet. Sawamura scowled at that; that evil four eyes was really spending too much time studying!

Knowing he didn't have much time, Sawamura knocked to the window, holding his breath. The light flickered and someone's shadow fell onto curtains; Sawamura felt himself smiling because he was right about choosing that room! That silhouette was one of the most familiar things in Sawamura's life.

Miyuki opened the curtains.

His hair was messy, skin too pale, the bags under his eyes were thick and dark, and on his cheek was an impression from a book. He looked as if he needed sleep and a good meal, regardless of the order.

And yet, Sawamura was looking at him like Miyuki was something precious.

Sawamura quickly masked his big smile, hoping Miyuki wouldn't notice anything. It hurt to pretend that he didn't feel any happiness when Miyuki was close, that his magic wasn't thrashing wildly in need to reach for Miyuki's magic to merge into one. He knew Miyuki was uncomfortable with implications of what they could be, so Sawamura tried to behave around him – but it sometimes was so difficult!

He waved to a stunned Miyuki, smiling sheepishly. Miyuki's eyes got even wider and he opened the window quickly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed, looking down as if checking there were no guards around. "You could get kicked out from Gild, if someone caught you!"

"But no one did," Sawamura said proudly, propping his palms on the breast of the window.

He leaned a little towards Miyuki, not being able to help himself – they hadn't seen each other in weeks because of Miyuki's exams! He needed to be close to Miyuki!

Miyuki may think whatever he wanted, but Sawamura was getting more and more sure that they were a battery. Or at least something similar, because they really had to spend time together if they didn't want to become moody.

Sawamura wasn't going to press that subject, not now. But one day –

"Come inside, you idiot." Miyuki moved aside, letting Sawamura step through the window into his room. "You're so lucky, Ono is out visiting his family today."

"I know he is visiting his family." Sawamura stopped himself from sticking his tongue at Miyuki. That would be childish and, for some reason, Sawamura didn't want Miyuki to think about him as "childish". "This is why I am here."

"And that speaks so well about Oasis' guards abilities," Miyuki murmured, closing the window.

Sawamura had a moment to look around the room. It was small, but still bigger than his own back at the Gild, with yellow walls and two, big wardrobes standing next to the door. There was bunk bed on Eijun's left and two, small desks at his right. Overall, the room would look nice, if not for the books lying on every free space available. Sawamura almost fell down, because he didn't notice that there were books laying right under the window.

Miyuki walked closer to Sawamura, somehow managing to look dangerous, even if he was dressed in pajamas.

"What are you doing here?" he asked again.

Sawamura gulped, his head suddenly empty. He had prepared a few speeches about how everyone was worried about Miyuki, how he shouldn't work so hard, but with Miyuki's gaze burning straight into him, all those things disappeared.

"I… I wanted to check if you are all right," Sawamura admitted, his cheeks burning. For Shiva sake, he wouldn't sound more like a fool in love even if he tried. "I even brought you food!" He pointed at the bag at his back. "Everyone was saying how hard you worked and I haven't seen you in ages, and –" Sawamura did shut up immediately after saying that, his eyes going wide, his cheeks red as tomato.

But Miyuki's murderous gaze became softer and instead of growling at Sawamura for behaving like an idiot, he only asked:

"Really?"

Sawamura's jaw almost hit the floor when he noticed light pink flush on Miyuki's cheeks. Would Miyuki be embarrassed because someone cared about him?

"Yeah." Sawamura grinned, his fears calming down.

Miyuki smiled a little; in the next moment a small, stinging curse pinched Sawamura's butt. He yelped, jumping a little.

"Miyuki Kazuya, you bastard!" He whined, massaging the hurt skin.

Miyuki coughed into his hand, badly masking his laughter; those brown eyes were fixated on Sawamura in a way that wasn't totally unpleasant.

"That was for breaking into Oasis," Miyuki said and then reached for Sawamura to help him stand up. "I should kick you from here, but you have food, so I let you slide this time."

Miyuki's eyes were sparkling, his mouth curved up into a smile and Sawamura felt himself smiling too. They really had been apart for too long, if Miyuki was smiling instead of telling Sawamura how much of a fool he was for sneaking into Oasis.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Sawamura pulled the boxes with pasta and sauce from the bag to reach a letter. "Look what I have!"

Miyuki took the blanket from his bed and put it on the floor. He sat down on it with one of boxes in his hand.

"It smells good…" He murmured and reached for the box with sauce; while doing so, the top of his pajama moved, letting Sawamura catch a glimpse of Miyuki's chest. He blushed and sat down to, slightly embarrassed. "And what do you have?"

Oh, right.

Sawamura waved the letter in front of Miyuki's face.

"I got it this morning. It's… it's from Furuya." One day, Sawamura thought, he would be able to say that name without feeling like he was going to cry. "Do you want to know what he wrote?"

Miyuki straightened, curiosity written all over his face.

That was enough for answer.

Sawamura cleared his throat.

" _Hey you_ ," he started to read and couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes. It was something so Furuya to write. " _I am writing to tell you that I have started training at the blacksmith in Saranka_ … It's a port town, you know?" When Miyuki nodded, Sawamura continued. " _The owner is a good friend of headmaster Sakaki. Apparently, I can use my powers to create better weapons and armours._ He could write how he does that!"

Miyuki coughed something close to 'would you understand it?', but Sawamura ignored him. Plus, Miyuki was just teasing, not insulting him – the past few months taught Sawamura the difference.

" _I'm alright, I guess. I have too much work to do to miss my bow,_ " Sawamura was proud of himself that his voice didn't shake. " _We even make toys and my polar bear teddy bears are getting popular._ " Sawamura could clearly imagine Furuya's proud face when he was writing. In front of him, Miyuki smiled too, knowing how obsessed Furuya's was with those animals. " _I wrote to Haruichi too; I wrote him the same thing, so don't pester him about what I wrote him._ " Miyuki laughed at that, almost spilling his meal and Sawamura poked his tongue out at him. " _I'm not angry at you."_ Gods, he was reaching _that_ part, wasn't he? " _I'm sending you something. Take good care of it or I won't make you anything else. Say hello to your magician, -F._ I think he meant you." Sawamura said without blushing. Success.

Miyuki snorted, a spot of pasta sauce on his cheek. Was it weird that Sawamura wanted to wipe it off?

"So what did he send you?" Miyuki asked, wolfing down his portion.

Sawamura didn't have to be as smart as Kanemaru to notice that Miyuki never responded to that 'your magician' stuff. One time, the boss used that phrase when he saw how Miyuki and Sawamura were practicing. Master Chris sometimes uses it too, usually smiling at Miyuki then, which made Sawamura thought that Miyuki might not like it. But Miyuki wasn't a person to quietly accept something he didn't like. Maybe he was warming up to the whole battery idea?

That thought made Sawamura's heart flutter in his chest.

"Something great! Mitts!" Sawamura pushed his chest forward, proud of himself.

Miyuki raised his eyebrow.

"Mitts?" He repeated. "Is it something good?"

Sawamura grinned.

"Do you want to tell me I know something you don't?" He asked in sing-song voice. Miyuki ignored him, going back to eating, but his powers brushed against Sawamura's, prompting him to speak. "Mitts are gloves for paladins with awakened magic! They are enhanced by protective spells so they don't break like the ones I usually use… They are white with blue lines and there is that blue jewel in them…"

"Sapphire?"

"Yes, that one!" Sawamura sighed dreamily. They were beautiful. "The magic spell in the sapphires can enhance my strength! Kuramochi said that this is a great gift. He said it's expensive too," he admitted sheepishly.

Miyuki nodded and put down his box. Sawamura didn't even eat half of his portion; he had a bad feeling Miyuki forgot about supper.

"It is. You have to be very quick with sewing jewels into armours and weapons." He stretched his arms above himself, obviously content. "You better think about how can you pay for that."

"I was going to!" Sawamura pouted. Honestly, he was going to think about a proper way to thank Furuya for that gift.

Miyuki's magic swirled around Sawamura.

"You can stay here, until you've finished your meal, but after that you have to go." He stood up, stretching again, and Sawamura's throat didn't become dry when he saw more of Miyuki's naked skin, of course not. "I have an essay to finish."

Sawamura frowned.

"You study too much. When was the last time you slept?" When Miyuki didn't answer, Sawamura patted the spot next to himself. "Sit next to me? You know how you get more relaxed when we are c-close to each other." Sawamura quietly cursed himself for stuttering.

Miyuki smiled in a way which spoke 'troubles'.

"Do you miss my touch that much, Sawamura?" He laughed when Sawamura's cheeks got red. "But you know what? It's a good idea."

In just a few seconds, Miyuki's books were on the blanket too, and he was sitting next to Sawamura, leaning against the foot of his bed.

"If I finish this essay quickly, I'll be able to sleep earlier today."

Sawamura wanted to ask how Miyuki was planning to go to bed earlier when it was already so late? But Miyuki was already reading one of his books and, in the end, Sawamura didn't say anything, not wanting to be kicked out.

He let go of his powers though and was surprised when they connected with Miyuki's. The magician smirked at him.

"I will work better this way."

It was the most stupid excuse in the world, however, Sawamura smartly kept his mouth shut about it. Apparently, Miyuki was missing the touch of their powers if he was the first to initiate the contact. That thought made Sawamura feel warm inside.

Combining it with the warm meal, the stress of breaking into Oasis, and the feeling of _right_ when their powers mixed, Sawamura felt how his head was slowly falling down. He didn't want to sleep, not when Miyuki was so close to him, but he was getting tired pretty quickly.

"Go to sleep," murmured Miyuki, writing words down a long sheet of paper. He put Sawamura's head on his left shoulder without sparring the paladin a glance. "I'll wake you up later."

Sawamura wanted to argue that it was Miyuki, who was supposed to go to sleep, but their powers wrapped themselves around each other more closely and he was out before he realized it.

* * *

Sawamura's dreams were interrupted, when Miyuki shook him by his shoulder.

"Get up! We don't have much time." Miyuki, already dressed, kept looking between the clock on the wall and the door.

At the urgency in Miyuki's voice, Sawamura's eyes flew open.

"What happened?" Sawamura asked, massaging his stiff neck. Apparently, he'd spent the night on the blanket with Miyuki's coat draped around him. It smelled like Miyuki… "Is someone in danger?"

"You will be, if you don't disappear!" Miyuki nervously slid his hand through his hair.

He took out a small bottle from his pocket and threw it at Sawamura, who caught it almost effortlessly. There was a shining, purple liquid swimming inside.

"What is it?"

"An experimental elixir from Takako-kunine. She often works on things that can make magic aura untraceable and I asked her for a sample." Miyuki's eyes narrowed. "Drink it! We need to leave the dorms immediately."

"Hold on." Sawamura stood up. " _Experimental_? Why do you want me to drink this? What is going on?"

Miyuki cast a worried glance at the door as if expecting someone to come into the room any moment.

"When I went down to get us breakfast, I heard that someone had broken into the library. They'd looked at books about summoning demons and blood spells." Sawamura's jaw fell down. Broke into…? Sure, he himself broke into the dorms, but Oasis' library was rumored to have better protective spells on it than the palace of the royal family! "The Professors are looking everywhere for clues and I don't want them to sense your magic. Your headmaster might forgive me sneaking into Gild in the middle of the day, but you…" Miyuki waved his hand at Sawamura. "We will get in trouble. Big trouble."

Sawamura nodded and unscrewed the bottle. It smelled like wine; Sawamura didn't want to try it – that 'experimental' part didn't sound too promising – but Miyuki was right, Sawamura would get into big problems.

Something occurred to him.

"Why do you think I didn't break into the library?" Sawamura asked half-jokingly, sniffing the elixir.

Surprisingly, Miyuki looked a little ashamed.

"… I couldn't sleep, kitten." Miyuki admitted. He pointed at his desk; there was an empty bottle. "Takako-kunine made me a potion which helps me to stay focused when I don't sleep."

"But you were supposed to sleep!" Sawamura yelled, pointing his finger at the magician. "Miyuki Kazuya, you study too much and you—"

"For the love of…!"

Before Sawamura registered what happened, Miyuki took the bottle from him and pressed it against Sawamura's lips. When he wanted to move back, Miyuki wrapped his arm around Sawamura's body to not let him run away and pinched his side. He'd yelped and Miyuki used that moment as an opportunity to pour some of the liquid into Sawamura's mouth.

Sawamura cough, but one cold gaze from Miyuki made him rethink his decision about spitting it out. Promising himself he would kick Miyuki's ass if anything happened to him, Sawamura took the bottle back and drank the rest of elixir.

Miyuki's arm tightened around him and Sawamura blushed, suddenly realizing how close they were standing.

"Your face is red. Are you hurt?" Miyuki asked, putting hand on Sawamura's forehead. "Do you feel weird?"

Sawamura blinked. Miyuki's face was so close he could see faint spots of gold in Miyuki's brown eyes.

"E… you're too close…?"

At that, Miyuki's eyes widened and he quickly moved back.

"… Sorry."

"No need for it." Sawamura grinned to Miyuki. He liked to be close to Miyuki… but now wasn't time for that. "Should I feel something?"

Miyuki furrowed his eyebrows and Sawamura felt Miyuki's magic moving past him.

"No, but it works. I don't feel your aura." Miyuki raised his hand as if he could touch Sawamura's aura. "Interesting. I've never thought –"

"Weren't we supposed to move quickly?" Sawamura asked, when Miyuki seemed to get lost in his thoughts.

"Right. Stay still, I'll put an invisible charm on you and we'll try to leave the dorms."

"Got it."

Miyuki's magic brushed against Sawamura, but this time it was different. This time, that magic carried _intent_ ; it wasn't swirling lazily, but it was focused and had a different aura about it. Miyuki looked differently too. He was more serious than when they both were playing with their powers, the movement of his hands was steady and controlled.

It was fascinating to watch him, to compare this serious persona with the normally teasing side of Miyuki.

"Done." Miyuki's gaze slid through Sawamura. "Stay close to me and don't make a sound. No one can see or sense you for the next ten minutes, but they can hear you."

"How will you know you didn't lose me?" Sawamura asked. He walked to Miyuki and put his hand on the magician's back, suddenly feeling like giggling from excitement. "Will it be good enough?"

"It better be."

They left the dorms relatively easy. There was a moment of panic, when one of the fourth years bumped into Miyuki and Sawamura almost made a sound. It was easier outside, with not so many people walking next to them. Still, they couldn't relax – they had, what, five minutes more left before everyone could be able to sense Sawamura's magic?

They were close to one of the doors of the main buildings to get outside when they heard steps behind themselves. Technically, there was nothing stopping Miyuki from leaving the Oasis, but it would look weird if someone saw him. Those side entrances were mostly used by staff, not students.

"Go." Miyuki moved his hand above the doorknob and the door opened quietly. "I will contact you, as soon as I possibly can," Miyuki said, barely moving his lips.

Not wanting to make a sound, Sawamura dared to squeeze Miyuki's hand in response. Miyuki didn't take his hand away and his eyes were burning when he looked where he thought Sawamura's face was.

Without wasting any second more, Sawamura ran away.

Hiding behind an old shop a few streets away from the Oasis, while waiting for the spell to wear off, Sawamura thought about this morning. Sure, he was hungry, had been woken up in a rude manner, and then almost had heart attack when he and Miyuki had to sneak through Oasis again. Not to mention someone broke into one of the most guarded places in the country, just to read books so awful it was illegal to even look at their covers without permission.

And yet just the simple memory of Miyuki's palm under his fingers was enough to make Sawamura smile.

* * *

The following weeks were one of most weirdest in Sawamura's life.

Since the break in at the Oasis' library, there was almost no week without information about a new break in at a different property. Not all of them were announced in newspapers, but Sawamura didn't need a newspaper when he had Miyuki.

Sawamura knew that Miyuki was very sensitive to magic. He didn't know and, every time he tried to ask about it, Miyuki either changed the subject or simply ignored him. Anyway, Sawamura hadn't really paid attention to that, just accepting that as a part of 'Miyuki is a genius' thing. He didn't see how being magically sensitive could be so useful; if anything, wouldn't it make Miyuki more vulnerable against hexes?

Apparently, it was very useful.

Most of the winter months, Miyuki spent away from the Oasis, often called to different parts of the country. It wasn't hard for Sawamura to add one to one: the burglar had to be a magician, so they had to leave traces of their powers, so Miyuki trace it. That was why, when there wasn't even any article in newspapers, but Miyuki had to suddenly leave, Sawamura knew what was happening.

He didn't want Miyuki to go. Every time Miyuki came back, he was a little more tired, a little more sad, and Sawamura could feel it, despite how much Miyuki tried to pretend he was alright. He was alright, though, after they spent some time together, their combined powers lazily moving around them, making them rest and relax.

Surprisingly, Sawamura didn't have much problems with admitting that, yes, he liked to spend time with the evil four eyes. He liked to have Miyuki close and he thought that Miyuki liked to be in the Gild too. They joked, bickered, and talked; sometimes, they were alone and the air between them was crackling with electricity, Miyuki's sharp eyes following Sawamura everywhere. Other times, they were with Sawamura's friends, Miyuki laughing with them, but always keeping close to Sawamura.

With a head filled with romantic legends about batteries, Sawamura sometimes wondered if they only liked each other because of the bond between them, because of who they were. How could he not start liking a person who was helping him so much, whose loneliness Sawamura sometimes felt and tried to make Miyuki feel better?

But then Sawamura could think about Miyuki's smile, when they fought with each other, about Miyuki's smirk when he, Sawamura, did something stupid, about Miyuki's teasing 'kitten', the sadness Miyuki sometimes wore around himself like a cloak, the warmth of his hand when he was holding on Sawamura's shoulders when they were walking through snowdrifts and Sawamura decided that, yes, maybe he would like Miyuki without the battery part just fine.

Miyuki was still reluctant to believe they were a battery, but Sawamura minded it less and less. And, to be honest, he was too focused on what was happening around him to wonder about some weird, legendary magical bonds. Finally, his efforts were being acknowledged! All those months of hard work slowly started to pay off: professor Kataoka practiced dueling with him a few times – which was something no one else had done yet – professor Yoshimoto praised him aloud for his skills in hand-to-hand combat and even Ochiai reluctantly admitted that his control was getting better.

He was doing fairly well on missions and was looking for permission to go on a mock mission with Miyuki. There were very little instances when a first year student was allowed to do something like that, but Sawamura hoped that his best behavior and hard work would speak for himself.

He hadn't had any more missions with Ochiai, for which he was glad. They were respectful towards each other during classes, but that was it. Sawamura was actually surprised the headmaster agreed to his wish to not have a mission with Ochiai again. Maybe demanding something with your powers threatening to shatter everything around you, while being covered in blood had something to do with that.

He kept writing to Furuya though, even if the other only answered every second of his letters. Sawamura didn't mind it; he was happy that Furuya was answering him at all. With every letter from his friend, the killing feeling of guilt was going away.

Maybe, just one day, Sawamura would be able to think about Furuya without wanting to beg for forgiveness.

Sawamura wasn't just getting better in practical classes only, professors of theoretical subjects started to praise him too, which he had admitted to master Chris with a shy smile. It was thanks to Chris and Kanemaru that he had been able to learn so much, after all. Miyuki had laughed at him for being so easily swayed by compliments when Sawamura had thanked Chris, and then had pulled Sawamura on to a practice field.

Their practice sessions went more than better: they were able to cast spells together, even with a large distance between each other, and a few times, Sawamura had managed to graze Miyuki with his sword. The first time he had managed to hit Miyuki, Miyuki immediately had taken him down with a full body binding curse and then later taken him out for hot chocolate in the café close to the Gild.

It was an even better reward than master Chris' praises.

They even tried to see if Sawamura could use his summoning powers again. It wasn't something Sawamura wanted to repeat ever again and he couldn't; he had managed to only create rings around himself and that was all. Master Chris and Miyuki speculated it could be related to the lack of danger (and Sawamura did not like that smile on Ryou-kunine and Jun-kunine faces in that moment), but Sawamura was glad he couldn't summon anything. Normally, he would be angry at himself for not being able to do something, yet the mere thought of summoning anything was causing his hands to sweat.

All in all, Sawamura spent the winter torn between worrying about Miyuki, being confused about Miyuki, being confused about himself, and trying to learn as much as he could in a short amount of time. It wasn't surprising that the winter passed quickly for him. He was actually looking forward to spring, optimistic about the rest of the school year.

And if he only knew what the future was preparing for him, he wouldn't be so happy.

* * *

The spring came to Niho, melting away the snow, and teasing students with promises of warm, lazy, sunny afternoons.

Sawamura thought he would be happy (sun! finally!), but found out that he could focus less and less during classes. He knew it was linked to Miyuki's two weeks long absence. The magician was going back today to the Oasis, Sawamura could feel his presence moving close and closer, and it was killing him to just sit in a class without doing anything. Not like he could do anything, Sawamura sulked, drawing pictures of his friends faces. He had tried to say he would go with Miyuki, but the headmaster Sakaki hadn't even want to listen to him, ordering him to focus on his classes and to let Miyuki handle everything.

But how could Sawamura do that when he felt how sad Miyuki was becoming during those missions to the point of almost depressed?

What awful things was he learning and why was Sawamura being denied the right to help him? Miyuki was his magician, damnit it!

Sawamura's pencil broke in half. Haruichi elbowed him for that.

"Eijun-nini, focus!" he hissed when Ochiai looked at them.

Sawamura mumbled apologies under his breath and, when Ochiai went back to lecture, he pretended to make notes while focusing on Miyuki's magic. It he was lucky, he would be able to trace Miyuki's journey without getting caught.

* * *

"What?"

"Sawamura, behave." Kataoka's stern voice this time wasn't enough to calm down Sawamura.

"I'm sorry, boss!" In the corner of his eye, Sawamura saw how the headmaster raised his eyebrow at that and muttered 'boss?' to professor Rei. "This is just… err… surprising."

'Surprising' didn't even start to cover what Sawamura was feeling.

He had been summoned to the headmaster's office right after the dinner. There were people already waiting for him; professor Rei, a strange, older guy, who turned out to be Miyuki's mentor, and an older woman Sawamura had only seen once, when he and Miyuki had gotten permission to work together: the headmistress of Oasis, Kikukawa, the Great Alchemist. Sawamura had thought he was in trouble and had almost apologized for breaking into the Oasis right away. However, it turned out that they wanted him and Miyuki to go on a mission together.

What?

Sakaki leaned back in his chair.

"I said, we wish for you to go on a mission with Miyuki." He repeated, observing Sawamura's reaction. "Headmistress Kikukawa, along with Miyuki's caretakers, requested your presence during another one of Miyuki's mission."

Yes, that was the same thing he had already said and it still sounded to Sawamura like a joke. No one laughed, though.

"B-but I don't understand!" Professor Rei made a face at the noise and Sawamura lowered his voice. "Just two weeks ago, the boss… I mean, professor Kataoka said first year students cannot go on missions with their magician partners." After almost six months, Sawamura could say that Miyuki was his partner without blushing too much. "And why isn't Miyuki here?" It was something he couldn't stop wondering about. Miyuki was close, he could feel it, so why he couldn't join them?

Unless… Unless Miyuki didn't want to go on a mission with him. Something heavy dropped in his stomach and a cold shiver made Sawamura get goosebumps. Didn't Miyuki always say that Sawamura was years behind him, in terms of his fighting skills?

The headmistress sighed and looked expectantly at Sakaki. Just like the headmaster, she was sitting in a big armchair in front of the desk. She was dressed in purple robes of an alchemist – she was also the most brightest thing in Sakaki's office. The room was big, but was kept minimalistic in terms of furniture and decor, the only thing in there was the headmaster's desk, a table with armchairs around it for a few guests, and two big bookstands, while the walls were painted a rich, dark color.

Right now, Sawamura was standing in front of the headmasters and Miyuki's caretakers, feeling like a student who had done something wrong. Kikukawa definitely looked as if she didn't like him. For what? Sawamura had no idea. Professor Rei didn't look too happy to be there either, Sawamura couldn't read professor Kunitomo and headmaster Sakaki looked unhappy too.

What was going on?

The headmistress put her cup of tea down on the table and turned to professor Rei.

"I think we should tell him." She said, not even looking at Sawamura, as if he wasn't even there. "Miyuki already knows."

"Knows about what?" Sawamura said, suddenly worried.

Sakaki nodded slowly, turning to Kataoka.

"I think it's a good idea, don't you think?"

Sawamura felt annoyance raising in him. Maybe he should just leave, if they were talking about him as if he wasn't there?

But when he wanted to turn around, professor Kunitomo's words stopped him immediately.

"We know there is a bond between you two."

Nothing else was needed. Sawamura felt how his face went white and his mouth formed a surprised 'o'. He didn't even think about refusing, looking at the old professor like a deer caught by hunters.

"A… a bond?" Sawamura repeated, his hands shaking nervously. They wouldn't try to experiment on him or Miyuki, right? Should he run? "I don't think –"

"Don't lie, Sawamura, we are not stupid." Professor Rei put her hands on her hips (Sawamura had a hard time not looking at those slim hips; being hormonal teenager wasn't always easy), snorting. "It's pretty obvious."

Next to Sawamura, Kataoka nodded.

"Your magical compatibility is better than some teams who've worked with each other for years." Master Kunitomo looked at professor Kataoka, who, in turn, looked at professor Rei, who smirked. And then blushed.

That was too much information about his professors Sawamura needed to know.

Kikukawa cleared her throat, making everyone turn their gazes at her.

"Miyuki was able to successfully send you his powers, when you fought the beast at the practical exam." Kikukawa's sharp eyes were, for once, locked on Sawamura. He gulped. "When you died, he looked like his world crumbled… Almost like there was _something_ between you, but he didn't even know your name, so the two of you couldn't have meet before."

"Not to mention," Sakaki added, smirking at Sawamura's shocked expression. "Your powers mesh a little too well, Sawamura. Young Miyuki is a genius, but even he cannot conceal your combined magic from the eyes of others."

"They could also try to _not_ break into another school." Kukikawa folded her hands on her chest. That movement let her robe reveal a belt with alchemist probes going along her chest. "It's amazing how you always know where the other is."

Sawamura was bowing, before the headmistress finished talking.

"I deeply apologize for breaking into the Oasis! I swear, I only went to Miyuki, I didn't –"

"I know, I could feel your presence right from the moment you stepped into the Oasis." Kukikawa's powers raised a little, their sweet scent promising pain and torture. "No one gets into my school without me knowing about it."

"That being said," Kunitomo quickly said, saving Sawamura from the wrath of the headmistress. "We all noticed how… moody you get when you two are separated for too long."

Sawamura threw a hurt look at Kataoka, who mumbled ' _unbearable, not moody'_. He wasn't unbearable! Not always anyway.

"We noticed too," professor Rei added, "how stronger Miyuki's abilities get when the two of you are close. This is why we want you to go with him on his next mission."

Sawamura furrowed.

"Like a giant battery?" He asked, his pride wounded beyond words.

Sure, he was still lacking in many ways, but to insinuate something like that… It hurt. The boss didn't even try to protect him and that hurt too.

"Not only because of that, Sawamura." Sakaki finally spoke. "You know how sensitive Miyuki is to magic and… forgive me for this assumption, but I believe you could _feel_ how badly Miyuki feels on missions." Feeling everyone's gazes on him, Sawamura nodded, once. "With your presence close to him, he will be more focused on his research. I know you two fight well, so you will be Miyuki's bodyguard. Also," Sakaki's eyes were shining like a little boy's who got his birthday present, "the King himself is interested in a warrior whose magic can work together with Miyuki's and he hoped you would agree to this mission."

The king himself was interested in him…? Sawamura's eyes widened. That was impossible. The headmaster couldn't be serious, but then he couldn't send any of his students on an official mission without the King and Queen's approval.

How had Kanemaru said that once? That Sawamura would get roped into doing something dangerous, just because someone had praised him?

"I'll do it," Sawamura said, straightening and saluting. "I will make the Gild proud, general, sir!"

Looked like Kanemaru was right again.

"Thank you, Sawamura." Professor Rei put her hands on Sawamura's shoulders. "I knew I could count on you. Now let's go. Miyuki is waiting and –"

"But…" Sawamura raised his hand as if he was in a class. "Could someone tell me what are those missions Miyuki goes to?"

Sawamura decided that five, powerful adults looking embarrassed at forgetting to tell him that one, very important detail, was making a funny picture. He made sure to not smile, though; with how much the headmistress didn't like him, he wasn't sure he would leave the office with all his limbs still intact, if he laughed.

And the fact that he had agreed to go with Miyuki without knowing all details didn't speak about him to well either.

* * *

Miyuki was pissed that Sawamura had accepted the mission.

He had been waiting in the stable, holding the reins of a dark horse and speaking to it quietly. When Sawamura, professor Kataoka, and professor Rei had walked into the stable, Miyuki froze and then looked at Sawamura with so much hatred it almost knocked Sawamura down. He had stopped chatting happily about taking care of the suit of armour the boss had given him, unsure of what to do.

As if not realizing what had been happening, the boss had let Sawamura choose a horse for himself (he had taken Blue, whom he'd already had the chance to ride), had given him a few tips, professor Rei had given him a bag with a few mixtures, and had filled the jewel in his sword with a healing spell (for luck, she had said, her eyes worried), and they had been leaving the Gild before everything had a chance to let it sink into him properly.

Apparently, someone had been breaking into the houses of magicians, looking through books about summoning demons, bloody rituals, and horror-like legends about old gods. Sawamura had known that. He knew the burglar wasn't leaving any marks, which was why Miyuki was going on those missions. What Sawamura hadn't know was that there had been victims.

Almost every time the burglar attacked, soon after, people were finding corpses. Not any ordinary corpses. On the victim's skin, someone had carved old runes with a knife, some of them had been missing their hearts. Someone was apparently performing evil rituals and no one could catch him? Her? Was it a whole cult?

Sawamura had been furious that Miyuki had been going on missions, but the headmistress had told him that Miyuki was always safe. There were always other magicians and warriors at the crime scene. Miyuki had been there only to check if he could find any traces of the burglar's magic and that's all.

The thing Sawamura couldn't understand was why Miyuki. Sure, he was sensitive to magic, but to such extent? No one could do it?

Yet, when Sawamura tried to ask about it, Miyuki only growled:

"Focus on the road. I don't want to heal your sorry ass if you fell off your horse."

Sawamura crushed down a snarky response. Miyuki was obviously hurt and Sawamura didn't want to add fuel to fire. They would reach Saranka in two days; it would be better if they didn't kill each other, in the meanwhile. Maybe they could even visit Furuya…

* * *

They reached Townstall, a small, quiet village where they were going to sleep.

"We will meet a captain of Saranka's police department, once we reach the city." Miyuki said when they were alone in their room. Those were first words to Sawamura, since they had left the Gild in the morning – it was already evening. "We will have to wake up early tomorrow."

Sawamura sat on the bed opposite of Miyuki's. The inn didn't have any single rooms and Sawamura was glad about it. He felt more safe being with Miyuki.

"Why are you so angry?" Sawamura asked, taking off his shirt and the chain mail hidden under it. It was a pain to wear chain mail for more than few hours. "It's me whose sole role is to be your battery and make sure you feel good." There was a pain in Sawamura's voice he couldn't conceal. After all those months of training, they had only let him go with Miyuki, because it would make him feel better.

Of course, Sawamura wanted to catch the burglar slash murderer, but it hurt to not be considered good enough to fight with anything.

Hearing that, Miyuki frowned, but didn't say a word.

"I just want us to work together!" Sawamura explained, bouncing on the bed. "Together, maybe we will catch the murderer!"

"Quiet!" Miyuki hissed, hastily casting silencing spell on their room. "You don't have to announce that to everyone!"

Sawamura clasped his hands on his mouth, embarrassed. He didn't want to be too loud!

"I-I'm sorry, Miyuki." Slowly, thinking that it was a good idea, Sawamura released his magic, hoping that it would be enough to calm Miyuki down. Honestly, he was starting to get on Sawamura's nerves. "Why don't you—"

"Stop that." Miyuki growled, pushing Sawamura's powers aside. "I want to go to sleep now, not waste more of my time."

Stunned, Sawamura was observing in silence how Miyuki quickly stripped to his underwear and slide under the duvet on his bed, not even looking at Sawamura, his face twisted in a scowl.

Nothing hurt so much as Miyuki rejecting Sawamura's help. It was as if someone put a dagger straight through Sawamura's heart. And not only did Miyuki reject his powers, but he also didn't want to talk with him. What was he so angry about?

"… Goodnight, Miyuki." Sawamura whispered.

Miyuki didn't answer, but Sawamura knew he wasn't sleeping yet.

Their first mission started great.

* * *

Sawamura woke up in the middle of the night, his shoulder shaken by Miyuki, Miyuki's hand covering Sawamura's mouth.

"Be quiet and get up," Miyuki whispered, his face above Sawamura's. "No questions."

Sensing that something was wrong, Sawamura nodded and Miyuki moved back. He was fully clothed and Sawamura wasted no time in dressing himself too, this time choosing to wear the classic student's armour professor Kataoka had given him, instead of his travel clothes: a breastplate, epaulieres and greaves. While getting dressed, he wished he remembered to take the gloves from Furuya; he had a sudden feeling he would need them.

"We need to leave, now." Still whispering, Miyuki walked quietly to the door. "We don't have much time… I will explain everything later, I promise." Miyuki added when Sawamura opened his mouth.

The paladin nodded, resting his hand of the handle of his sword. His blood was moving faster in his veins. Someone was trying to hurt them? Would Sawamura be able to protect himself? Killing beasts was different from killing a human…

Quietly moving behind Miyuki, they left their room. It didn't take them long to reach their horses. The whole time, Sawamura was holding his sword, and he knew Miyuki was ready to cast curses in any moment. Sawamura relaxed a little, once they walked into the stable and that was his mistake.

More than he saw, he felt the dagger flying in his way. He managed to avoid it and drew his sword. Miyuki casted the shield charm in front of them and then immediately a light spell; the whole stable become bright like during a day.

"What the fuck was that?!" Sawamura yelled, looking around himself. He couldn't see anyone, couldn't _feel_ anyone, but he knew someone was there, hiding in the shadows. "Miyuki Kazuya, answer me!"

"Later! We need to reach our horses!"

Something silver gleamed above Miyuki's head. His body acting before Sawamura's brain could catch what was going on, Sawamura jumped to Miyuki, pushing the magician aside. He did it in the last moment; their attacker would jump down on Miyuki, attacking him with the knife he was holding.

Instead of it, he took the full force of Sawamura's attack, the blade of Sawamura's sword cutting his body in half. The corpse hit the ground hard, dead eyes staring at Sawamura in surprise, blood splashing onto Sawamura and, gods, he had just killed a man.

The time seemed to stop, the sword shook in Sawamura's hand. He didn't mean that, he only had wanted to protect Miyuki and himself!

"Move!" Miyuki grabbed Sawamura by his shoulder, hauling him towards their horses. "He was the only one, but the rest are coming here quickly! We need to go!"

Sawamura nodded numbly, feeling detached, as if he were looking at himself from sides. The strong smell of blood was making him sick.

Cursing under his breath, Miyuki jumped on to his horse and then pulled Sawamura up behind himself.

"Hold onto me tightly," Miyuki ordered and Sawamura listened to him without arguing.

He wrapped his arms around Miyuki's waist, almost not aware of the shield spell Miyuki cast around them. He couldn't take his eyes of the macabre sight of spilled guts and blood. Sawamura knew he was stronger than the average person, he knew his sword was capable of slicing smaller beasts in half… But knowing it and _knowing it_ was a difference.

He had just killed a man.

Thankfully, Miyuki didn't say anything, when they were riding through forest, surrounded by the sounds of the horse's gallop and Sawamura's quiet sobs.

* * *

"Let me get this straight." Sawamura straightened and put the mug with hot water between his crossed legs, warming his hands on it.

They had stopped in the middle of the forest, when Miyuki was sure no one was following them. A few charms later and their location was undetectable by other magicians – or so Miyuki hoped. Their enemy wasn't stupid.

Miyuki had taken the blanket from the bag he had in the saddle and put it around Sawamura, when he'd finally stopped vomiting. Not like Miyuki didn't understand him; he, too, had vomited when he'd killed someone for the first time and he hadn't done so in so gruesome manner.

However, as usual, Sawamura had managed to surprise Miyuki with his steel spirit, wanting – no, demanding – Miyuki to explain everything. And so, Miyuki had done just that, while warming them water to drink – he owed that much to Sawamura. The night was cold and both of them would use to drink something warm after a day like that.

"You linked those murders to someone who worships an old deity of the sea." Sawamura said slowly, looking at his mug. Miyuki didn't have to see his face to know how pissed off he was. "That person realized that, because you were asking uncomfortable questions. That attack… You weren't attacked for the first time. And now you want to go to Saranka to check if the burglar is hiding in old ruins of that deity's temple."

It sounded horrible, when Sawamura put it that way.

"That's true, but –"

Sawamura didn't let him finish.

"But? But?! You should have talked with your professors or the headmistress!" Sawamura yelled, his aura furious. "What the fuck were you thinking?!"

"That they can escape, if they know someone will be observing the ruins in Saranka!" Miyuki yelled back, Sawamura's emotions affecting him too. He took a deep breath, praying his charms were strong enough to keep them from showing off their position. "Listen, I only want to check if they are there. I will immediately notify the police department and if I'm lucky, I'll know what their leader looks like."

Sawamura's aura calmed down a little, but he was still fuming. Honestly, that was why he didn't want Sawamura to come with him. Not only was Sawamura in danger because of him, but also because now his precisely made plans would be destroyed.

…But Sawamura had saved him, hadn't he? Miyuki hadn't even thought about looking above himself. If Sawamura had been a second late, Miyuki would have met death.

"Sawamura…" Miyuki started, not sure what to say next.

The paladin raised his hand, silencing him.

"… We will only look, right? Only look, gather back up, and go there again to kick everyone's asses?"

Miyuki blinked slowly. That wasn't the answer he expected.

"Okay." Sawamura stood up and glanced at the sword at his waist. It was still covered in blood. "We will go there, we will stop that bastard, and then I'll kick your ass for being a fucking idiot, go it?" Sawamura raised his chin, still angry.

He reminded Miyuki a little about Mei when the knight decided to do something. Instead of answering right away, Miyuki stroked Sawamura's powers with his own and was glad when Sawamura answered that touch, sighing a little in pleasure. It was something he needed, after a night like that.

It was something he needed to.

It wasn't the best time to analyze why Sawamura's relaxed, gently smiled face was making Miyuki happy. But when Sawamura smiled at him, Miyuki could only answer with the same.

* * *

Miyuki had discovered months ago how soothing it was to be in Sawamura's company, but only now he started to see another aspect of their bonded magic: he felt safe.

Which was a very weird feeling, considering where they were hiding.

They had been able to reach the outskirts of Saranka in the evening. He hadn't been able to sense anymore assassins, but that hadn't meant there wasn't any lurking around in the darkness, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike when they had their guard down. In the inn,Miyuki had been simply lucky with looking outside the window and noticing a shadow lurking around the building. His first thought had been to wake up Sawamura and not let anyone hurt him. The mess they were in was all Miyuki's fault; he had been the one to connect all the dots, yet instead of jotting it down in his reports, he had chosen to remain quiet.

It wasn't because Miyuki wanted to be a hero. He just wanted more proof so that masters Rei and Kunitomo would be proud of him. Miyuki thought that maybe stopping someone from summoning a bloodthirsty demon would be enough to make him stop feeling guilty every time master Rei wore blouses with short sleeves.

"It looks like a bad book," Sawamura whispered, his breath ghosting over Miyuki's ear. "The guy who attacked us was a _pirate._ "

They were crouching behind thick bushes, observing a cliff outside of the city. According to Miyuki's calculation, the old temple of Unhcegila, the old goddess of chaos and discord, should be somewhere there. So far, they hadn't seen anyone, but Miyuki was sure he was right. He remembered reading about Unhcegila in his old mother's books and the trail of dead bodies was pointing him to Saranka. The place was practically with bad auras; for many years, magicians had thought that it was simply because of a battle, which had taken place there a few centuries earlier, but what if that wasn't everything?

"I told you," Miyuki looked at Sawamura sitting behind him. They had so little space, the paladin was almost sitting on him, and Miyuki thought that, if circumstances were different, he might even enjoy having Sawamura's warmth so close to himself. "Unhcegila was a sea goddess. They might believing that summoning a sea demon might make them powerful."

Sawamura looked at Miyuki with raised eyebrows.

"They must have a magician to try to summon a demon."

If Miyuki was standing, he would have surely fallen down.

"And it took you almost two days to figure it out?" Miyuki snorted.

Sawamura's armour made a clinking sound, when he punched Miyuki's arm lightly.

"There was a lot information to think about! First of all, it wasn't just an ordinary burglar, but a murderer, then we got attacked, and then you told me that those murders were ritual sacrifices!"

"Quiet!" Miyuki grabbed Sawamura head and put his hand over the paladin's mouth. "You will have plenty of time to yell at me later, just be quiet for now."

With eyes still burning in anger, Sawamura nodded and Miyuki released him, turning back to observing the cliff.

While watching to see if anyone was coming, Miyuki thought about the warrior sitting behind him.

He was surprised how easily Sawamura had managed to get a hold of himself. He had been devastated, after killing their assassin, and yet he was with Miyuki, knowing full well that, if they get discovered, he would have to kill again. His aura was warm, steady, filling Miyuki with a strange sense of calm, so unlike Sawamura and yet Miyuki could feel that Sawamura was nervous. In the full attire of a paladin student, he looked dangerous, but Miyuki knew where to look to see that nervousness: the constant need to blabber, fingers tapping on the ground, a hand resting on the hilt of the sword.

Having an emotional bond was just a bonus.

Miyuki was still angry at his masters for making Sawamura go with him, but he understood why, even if he wouldn't say that aloud. Sawamura's role was indeed to be a battery for Miyuki – but only because it was killing him to sense magic of that… that cult member, especially when someone had just been killed. Well, it wasn't exactly killing him. However, he was getting sick from too much of the evil aura and couldn't properly focus. Miyuki's masters probably had thought they were doing him a favour…

Miyuki adjusted his magician robes, grateful for the wind blowing from the sea. Just like Sawamura he had decided to wear his battle clothes too: dark blouse and trousers, and the cloak. They looked simple, but in fact, Miyuki had spent hours vowing spells into the material. Through the sides, back and front of both the blouse and pants were woven patterns of green threads – healing charms. The rest of the material was enhanced to block any magical attacks and some physical attacks. He even had his belt with spells closed in sacks.

But would it be enough?

Miyuki's musings were interrupted, when suddenly he felt a magical aura coming close. Behind himself, he could feel how Sawamura stiffened, alerted about someone else's presence too.

There was a tall stranger cloaked in dark robe walking towards the cliff. In the bright light of the moon, he (or she?) was clearly visible. The stranger touched one of stones and it moved aside, letting him walk inside. He looked behind himself and for one moment Miyuki's heart froze; the stranger didn't notice them though. He seemed to be in haste, which probably helped them.

It wasn't something Miyuki liked. He didn't believe that that person would be able to summon any demon, much less anything powerful, but he didn't like how he apparently found those infamous ruins, which had been a mystery for over a century.

"Miyuki?" Sawamura's voice almost made Miyuki jump. "I think we should go inside."

Miyuki turned to the paladin, surprised. Hadn't Sawamura wanted to immediately notify the police about their discovery?

Sawamura's eyes were glued to the hidden entrance, his aura giving off the vibe of distress.

"I can't believe the entrance would be there, just like that…" he mused. There was something different about his powers, what Miyuki had been able to feel only once before: a touch of summoner's aura. "I just… I just know we should get inside." Sawamura bit his bottom lip, his hands clenching. "I can't understand it –" he started in frustrated voice.

"— but you can feel something," Miyuki finished for him.

Could inside be more people? Could they really be trying to summon a demon? It would explain why Miyuki could feel Sawamura's summoner side, even if Sawamura didn't seem to notice that. Not to mention, Miyuki felt the weird vibe coming from the cliff too.

"I'll make us invisible for few minutes. We should be able to get inside." After Sawamura nodded, Miyuki performed the spell.

They linked their powers for a moment, just enough to make the spell last longer and the feeling of Sawamura's powers filled Miyuki with hope.

"But we will only peek inside, got it?" Miyuki whispered and stood up, brushing stand from his robe.

Sawamura didn't answer, staring at the cliff with furrowed eyebrows. As long as he wasn't going to get into another summoners' trance, Miyuki thought they could be fine.

They ran quickly to the spot where the stranger opened the entrance, but when Sawamura touched the stone nothing happen.

"Should I hit it?" He asked and Miyuki could imagine Sawamura already preparing himself to hit the stone with his sword.

"That guy didn't hit it," Miyuki said.

Up close, he could feel more of that strange powers coming from behind the stone and it was making him sick. That aura hadn't been so strong a few hours ago, when they hid in the bush.

Sawamura huffed.

"I know! He just touched it!"

"He could've charmed the stone to answer only to his magical aura." Miyuki shrugged, stepping closer to the stone. There was something almost alluring in the dark powers emitting from it, but the time when Miyuki could be swayed by something like that had already passed. He knocked on the stone. "See? Noth—"

The stone under Miyuki's fingers moved and he jumped back, casting the shield charm without thinking. He heard Sawamura cursing and could feel how the paladin was gathering his magic for attack. But the stone revealed nothing; just a long, dark corridor. Miyuki could feel those powers even more now, but there wasn't anyone in the corridor, as far as he could know.

Sawamura's hand touched his shoulder. The invisibility spell wore off and Sawamura was able to see him again.

"Probably a magician thing." He poked his tongue out at Miyuki. "You magicians love your magic tricks."

"Not my fault warriors little brains cannot appreciate them." Miyuki replied back, smirking at Sawamura's scowl. "Let's go inside."

He didn't want to go inside, not when he couldn't explain that weird sensation he felt, when he had touched the stone, but it was too late to go back.

"We could…. You know, I see perfectly well in darkness." Miyuki expected usual proud smile of Sawamura, but the paladin seemed to be embarrassed about something. Hearing his next words, Miyuki stopped wondering why. "If we hold hands, I'd help you walk there. We wouldn't have to use any light spells."

Even in that little light provided by the moon and gleaming water, Miyuki was able to see how Sawamura was blushing. Was it so bad that Miyuki was getting embarrassed too? They had spent the last few months being close to each other, spending lot of time together, often touching each other during practice and even after it (Miyuki loved to mess up Sawamura's hair and to lean against him when the paladin was studying), but a simple holding hands was causing them both to blush.

Gods, they were going to uncover a cult of murders, it wasn't time for that… that battery thing!

With ease, only coming from months of experience, Miyuki ignored the voice inside his head, asking him if he really believed he only liked Sawamura because of the bond.

"That's a good idea." Miyuki grabbed Sawamura's hand; it was strong and warm, calloused from hours of sword practice. "Let's go before it closes."

Still looking embarrassed, Sawamura entered the corridor first, Miyuki walking behind him with, ready to defend them both and to attack. They barely stepped inside when the stone moved, covering the entrance. Miyuki managed to notice that the corridor was small, but without any obstacles on their path. It looked like something that was created by a man.

He didn't like it.

Sawamura squeezed Miyuki's hand a little harder, as if to tell him that everything was going to be all right and Miyuki squeezed back. They _were_ going to be okay.

Without saying another word, they started walking. And while Miyuki could only walk blindly behind Sawamura, he was surprised at how strongly he believed that the paladin wouldn't let him get hurt.

* * *

Sawamura didn't like this place one bit. It was _reeking_ with dark powers and it was giving him goosebumps. He was badly reminded about the first – and only time – he had used his summoners' powers. He had felt something similar then too: a gut-twisting feeling of incoming doom.

Miyuki could pretend to be brave for all he wanted, but Sawamura could feel Miyuki's uneasiness through their emotional bond. Yet, the hand he was holding wasn't shaking, Miyuki's aura was radiating courage. How had the boss worded that? Only idiots weren't afraid of danger?

The corridor was getting smaller and Sawamura started to get scared, wondering if there was even an entrance at the end of it. Maybe he had missed a turn? It wouldn't be too smart of them to create ball of light, so they had to rely solely on Sawamura's eyes. Normally, he would help himself with his own magic, but that would make his eyes glow in darkness. He was able to see in darkness, but as well as when he helped himself with magic. The boss was right, when he had told his paladins that they should train their body hard, so it would use their natural, higher-than-average abilities, instead of helping themselves with magic, since there would be time when they wouldn't be able to use magic.

Like now.

Finally, they saw a small light in the distance. Sawamura's eyes narrowed; it looked like an exit. Miyuki had to think the same, because his powers moved around Sawamura in the pattern Sawamura had already known: it was an invisibility spell.

With every step, Sawamura could sense presence of people. They weren't magicians or warriors, because he could feel their auras. He wasn't the best at sensing auras, but he could tell when someone had powers or not. Still, he could sense a powerful course of dark magic. It was making his skin itch; for a second, he wished to be somewhere else and immediately he regretted that thought. He was a paladin! He was going to be one of the Sixth and he was not going to run away!

"Prepare yourself," Miyuki whispered, letting go of Sawamura's hand. They were so close to the entrance now and it was bright enough for Miyuki to walk without any help. "There might be guards."

Something was telling Sawamura there wouldn't be any guards. He didn't know how to explain that, but when Miyuki had touched the stone he had gotten feeling that only Miyuki could move it aside. The magic closed in the stone hadn't reacted to Sawamura's aura at all, but it had become alive under Miyuki's fingers.

Sawamura didn't want to think what that could mean.

He tightened his hold on the sword, praying that he wouldn't have to use it. He had killed one person already; he didn't want to kill anyone else. When signing up to enroll in the Gild, Sawamura knew he would have to kill other humans one day. But that day always seemed to be in some distance, not the précised future, not right in his first year of study!

Still… Sawamura knew he would do it. If someone attacked him or Miyuki, he would protect them both with any means necessary. He didn't want anyone else to die because of those weird guys.

Protected by the invisibility spell, they looked into the room and what they saw left Sawamura breathless.

There were in an enormous cave with ruins of some kind of a temple in the center of it. Grey, stony bricks of something that was once walls were falling apart. In one of them, Sawamura could see a part of a window. There were pillars too, partially destroyed, covered in drawings of demons and people worshipping them. Sawamura felt sick. Surprisingly, the cave was light; there were crystals put in pillars, lighting the whole place.

People were gathered around something in the middle of those ruins, but Sawamura couldn't see what that was. He could sense it was something very dangerous, though, making the hair on his nape stand.

At Sawamura's side, Miyuki gasped.

"It's true…" Sawamura heard him murmuring.

Reaching behind himself, Sawamura blindly caught Miyuki's hand and pulled him close to ruins. They walked around them, trying to find a place to hide – Sawamura noticed a good spot near a destroyed pillar. No one was standing there and it looked like they could get a good look at what was happening inside the ruins.

After crouching down, Sawamura tried to count the present people. They were pirates, just like the one who had attacked them. Sawamura could understand why they would try something as radical as summoning a demon – new ships with warriors and magicians on them had been efficiently fighting pirates for some time now. Thirty of them, dressed in shorts and shabby shirts, armed mostly with swords and axes. Some of them were missing an arm or a leg.

Up closer, Sawamura could see the thing everyone were looking at. It was a wide, golden plate with a brick of stone lying in its center. It took Sawamura a second to realize that it was a coffin.

"Magicians, how much more do we have to wait!" One of them, with a long, red beard yelled. The rest started to murmur in agreement.

"I told you the whole process is complicated." Answered a smug voice. It was coming from one of the rooms in what Sawamura had thought to be the front of ruins. The same stranger, cloaked in dark robes, he had seen before, stepped outside of one of rooms. "Don't be impatient."

"Tche." A pirate with a hook in place of his hand spit on the floor. "We've been waiting for months! And you made us use that fucking hidden passage. We almost drowned!"

More screaming and yelling. Only then it occurred to Sawamura that those people had to somehow get inside the cave. Carefully, he looked around himself and noticed another entrance at the other side of the cave. Where would it lead?

The stranger raised his hand, silencing everyone, while walking towards the stage. Sawamura's gulped. The man was holding something, something dark and awful, and it was scaring Sawamura to death.

Miyuki's hand touched his own and he grabbed it without thinking. They couldn't combine their powers, not now, but even a simple touch was enough to make him feel a little better.

"Only I could use the passage in the cliff." The stranger stepped onto the stage and slide the hood from his face.

He had a wide face with a big forehead. He was completely bald and his eyes were dark, looking at the pirates with some kind of distaste. Sawamura looked at Miyuki to see if he knew that man, but Miyuki shook his head, perfectly understanding Sawamura's question.

"Amahisa…" The same guy with a beard growled, putting a hand on his axe. "I lost one of my men, because you weren't careful. We want results _now._ "

With how all those men shifted and moved closer to the stage, Sawamura had a good idea what would happen, if that Amahisa guy didn't do anything.

Surprisingly, Amahisa only smiled: a cold, small smile. He moved part of his robe aside, taking out a little sack. Sawamura got dizzy all of sudden; that dark, evil power was coming from that sack. He wanted to run there, but Miyuki stopped him.

"We need to make sure it's them," he whispered, his lips barely moving against Sawamura's ear.

Sawamura nodded, starting to sweat. He never liked waiting, much more preferring to just do something.

"I finished creating the crystal." Amahisa announced and put the sack on the coffin. He opened it – Sawamura tensed and Miyuki's hand tightened painfully around his own – and took out a dark jewel and black dagger with a curved blade. It was emitting such dark powers that Sawamura was surprised Amahisa could stand touching it.

… Had he just said he created it?

"Finally. Now start the spell, boy." The bearded man waved his hand at Amahisa.

The smile disappeared from Amahisa's face, but he didn't comment on that. Sawamura thought it he wasn't too happy with being treated like one of the 'men' of that guy – was he a captain?

"Remember, I need to link the demon's powers to you. It will help you control her." Was it Sawamura's imagination or did Amahisa smirk? "I filled the jewel with the blood and hearts of your victims… It should be enough to show the demon that she will get more."

The pirates started to laugh and chant.

"Of course she will get more!" Yelled someone in the back. "We will claim the sea back!"

Miyuki grabbed Sawamura by his shoulders.

"We need to stop them," he said quickly, his face drained from all colours. "I know what he is planning to do."

"He just said that," Sawamura murmured back, turning his head left to see how Amahisa was kneeling next to coffin and started to sing in a voice Sawamura couldn't understand. "He wants to summon a demon! Why else should we stop him?!"

Miyuki took one of sacks from his belt. Maybe the rush of an incoming battle was affecting him, but Sawamura could feel through his bond with Miyuki that in the sack was a curse, which could sting everyone it touches.

But Miyuki shook his head. He was breathing hard and he looked.. well, scared.

But why?

"He is going to sacrifice them," Miyuki said. "I know this ritual. A handmade jewel? Linking your life? He will sacrifice them, Sawamura, and I don't want to know what powerful demon he will be able to summon then."

Fuck.

"I'm going to attack Amahisa…" Miyuki chewed on his bottom lip. "Do you think you can stop those guys?"

Over thirty pirates against one paladin student? Sawamura wasn't sure he would win this battle. He might have magic on his side, but that didn't mean he couldn't get outnumbered by people without any magic.

"I'll do it."

The only bright side was that Amahisa wasn't a proper summoner and thus no barrier was protecting him. It'd be easier to attack him. Suddenly, Sawamura wished Miyuki hadn't faked a message to the police department that they would reach the city tomorrow, so no one would start looking for them.

The dark power was getting stronger and Sawamura realized they were running out of time. He looked at his sword, freshly polished. He was going to taint it with blood again. Could he do it?

There was one question more needed to ask.

"But how do you know this spell? It's illegal, right? And that part about linking a life? Maybe we have more… time…" Sawamura's got quiet when he realized that Miyuki froze and was avoiding Sawamura's gaze. "Miyuki? Miyuki, answer me." There was a panic in Sawamura's voice, because what Miyuki's face was suggesting… what Miyuki's aura was suggesting… It was impossible!

Miyuki's reply made Sawamura feel as if his world crashed around him.

"I performed it once."

* * *

Sawamura's face revealed betrayal and hurt, and Miyuki didn't know if he wanted to hug the paladin or kick him. That information wasn't something Miyuki was saying when meeting new people.

Another wave of dark powers from the stage made Miyuki focus on what was happening around them, not only on Sawamura. He had a mission to fulfill and then… and then he would explain everything. Sawamura was looking at him as if Miyuki had committed the worst crime.

And the worst thing? Miyuki hated himself for it more than Sawamura would be able.

Without any further ado, knowing they were running out of time, Miyuki stood up and threw the sack with stingy curse at the crowd. The sack exploded, cowering some of pirates in blisters. They turned towards Miyuki, reaching for their weapons and it was then when Miyuki yelled:

"Now, Sawamura!"

They had practiced that before: Miyuki attracting attention of their enemies and Sawamura attacking them mercilessly. The paladin jumped from behind the broken pillar, sending a wave of wind with his sword and knocking down a few enemies. The sword in his hands was gleaming with red, making the decorative handle with flames look like it was real flames.

As if it was natural for them, Sawamura stood in front of Miyuki, covering him, while Miyuki ran towards the stage. He didn't have time to feel guilty about leaving Sawamura, but he had to take care of Amahisa. The dark magician didn't even look disturbed by their entrance, just put a shield spell in front of himself and went back to chanting the spell Miyuki knew all too well, the magic from the jewel reaching towards the pirates.

Cursing under his breath, Miyuki blasted one of pirates on his way with a thunderbolt. He barely managed to avoid the guy with beard, who talked with Amahisa before.

"I won't let you go there!" He yelled, attacking Miyuki, before he had a time to think about a spell to protect himself. "We will rule the sea!"

Miyuki's shield blocked another attack and it gave him time to knock down the pirate with a fireball. The man yelled and dropped his dagger, pressing his hands to his face; Miyuki had burned his eyeballs and most of his face.

But when Miyuki turned to face Amahisa, he felt a strong pull on the emotional bond. With a hard, beating heart, he turned around just to see Sawamura being surrounded by pirates. He was standing with his back against a pillar, trying to shake everyone off.

"Go!" He yelled, avoiding another attack and answering with one of his own. "Stop him, Miyuki!"

Miyuki took a tentative step towards Sawamura and then, hating himself more than he would be ever able to verbalize that, he ran to the stage where Amahisa was performing the spell, his powers wanting to rush to Sawamura and helped him.

Yet, Miyuki managed to take only a few steps before Amahisa attacked him. Miyuki countered the unknown spell with ice spell; the force of that spell almost made him fell down.

"It's too late!" Amahisa screamed. He neither sounded or looked too sane, with his eyes gleaming maniacally. "She is almost here!"

Miyuki felt how fear grabbed him by his throat. Amahisa already had performed the biggest part of the spell. Now he only had to finish linking everyone's life force to the jewel and he would summon the demon. Something had already started to materialize above the coffin, but Miyuki didn't want to think about it.

"You will kill us all! And she will kill you!" Miyuki yelled to him, avoiding another spell. He could sense that Sawamura was still alive, but he didn't dare to look in his direction. "It's not a pet, you won't be able to control it!"

"I will!" Amahisa gripped the jewel harder and pointed the black knife at Miyuki. Miyuki knew what it was: a weapon to destroy the jewel, just like it was written in the ritual. At least Amahisa wasn't as insane as he appeared to be. "No one will stop me. I will show you," his voice lowered to a growl. "I will show everyone in that fucking Oasis that I have talent, that I…! –"

Miyuki didn't wait for the end of that speech. He saw the opening in Amahisa's defense and immediately used it, sending another ice spell and a full binding hex under it. Amahisa avoided the ice spell, but the hex hit him. He fell down immediately and before he was able to perform a countercurse, Miyuki was at his side hitting him with another charm and forcing him to sleep. The spell wouldn't wear off before Miyuki could take it off.

He took the jewel and the blade from Amahisa's hands, hissing when he touched them. They were made from the purest of dark powers and Miyuki cursed his sensitivity to magic not for the first time. It took him a second to get a hold on himself. He still remembered the words to destroy the jewel and it made him want to laugh in despair. Who would have known that his worst mistake in the life would become useful one day?

He turned to the coffin, gathering magic to destroy the jewel – it wouldn't stop summoning the demon on its own. Yet, all words failed Miyuki, when he realized what kind of shape was the spectrum taking.

Gods, it couldn't be possible.

* * *

Somehow, Sawamura had managed to push pirates back. He had wounds on his arms and legs, but he could still fight. It was hard to fight and observe if any of their enemies weren't trying to strike Miyuki – which had already happened twice – yet he was managing. It would be easier, too, if Sawamura had simply killed them all, but he tried to only knock his opponents down if he had a chance.

He internally cheered, when Miyuki took down Amahisa. He pushed aside what Miyuki had told him about himself, before the battle started. They would talk about it later. Yes, later, because both of them would be _alive_ to talk later.

The spectre above the coffin started to take a more solid form. Sawamura wanted to yell about it to Miyuki, but he was distracted by another attack. He hit his attacker in stomach with the hilt of his sword and then punched the guy in his ribs, feeling how they were cracking under his fist. He pierced another guy right through his stomach, not wanting to think how easy it was to kill him, and turned to the stage, wanting to go to Miyuki.

What he saw froze blood in his veins.

The spectre had a shape already and it… she… was walking towards Miyuki. Sawamura could see the dim shape of long, wavy hair and a dress with sunflowers.

"Kazuya?" She had Miyuki's smile, Sawamura thought dimly. "My little boy..."

"Mom?" The dagger shook in Miyuki's hands. He was looking at the spectre with wide eyes. "Mom, is that you?" He made a hesitant step towards the spectre, looking as if he forgot about their task.

"Miyuki, she's not real!" Sawamura yelled to him, at the same time slashing another pirate right through his stomach; blood splashed onto his hands. "She's not real!"

Miyuki stopped, uncertainty written all over his face. Through their connection, Sawamura could feel Miyuki's love for his mother, the deepness of his lost and grief. If he wasn't fighting, it would be enough to make Sawamura cry.

Now he only cut another opponent, barely taking his eyes off Miyuki.

"Miyuki, destroy that damn thing!"

"But Kazuya," the spectre moved closer to Miyuki. "It will kill me." Miyuki gasped, his will faltering before Sawamura's eyes. "You don't want his, do you?"

Horrified, Sawamura could only observe that terrifying spectacle. The spectre, looking like Miyuki's mom, was charming his _bondmate_ and Sawamura be damned if he let it did that! There were more than fifteen pirates between him and Miyuki but it wasn't big amount anymore. No; something shifted inside Sawamura, magic flew through his body, filling him up with power. It was like when he was fighting the monster summoned by Zono: his senses were sharpened, his strength doubling, he knew exactly what to do. Only, this time, Sawamura stayed sane, not letting magic move him like a puppet. He was the master of his own power.

Knowing there was no time to waste, Sawamura charged at the group of pirates standing closest to him. Casting the spell master Chris had taught him, Sawamura charmed the blade to be more sharp; it sliced through the shields of his opponents effortlessly. He dodged a lancer thrown in his way and blocked an axe with his shield. Through their connection, he felt Miyuki's distress, but something was blocking him from responding.

Sawamura clenched his jaw and attacked more ferociously. Time was running out and he would cut out his own heart, before he let that bitch hurt Miyuki.

* * *

She looked just like Miyuki remembered her. She was even wearing the same white dress with a sweater draped over her shoulders. And that smile... Miyuki's eyes filled with tears when he heard her voice. Faintly, he remembered he was supposed to do something, but... but was it really so important?

"Kazuya," she reached for him. "My wonderful boy. You grew up so fast."

But instead of letting her touch her, Miyuki backed away. His magic powers were screaming, urging him to run, every time she was too close to him, and that as confusing. It was his mother! Why should he be afraid of her?

"Don't run away." Mother's expression turned sad. "Don't you love me anymore?"

Sawamura yelled something from behind Miyuki, but he ignored the paladin, too focused on his mother. Despite his magic telling him to not do that, he took a step closer to his mom. And then another one, and another.

"I still love you. I... tried to do everything I could to help you," he whispered, cursed dagger heavy in his hands. He could barely see through tears.

"I know, my son." She was getting more solid; not a mere mist anymore. She put her hand above the dagger, reaching and touching Miyuki's cheek with her right hand. His skin burned under her touch. "But I can't come back to you, if you don't let go of that dagger."

"I..."

There was noise behind him. Miyuki could smell blood, heard someone yelling curses, screaming something at him. But those things weren't important. His mother was close, so close. He could bring her back to life. Maybe then he would be able to talk normally with his father again?

"Let it go, son. Let it go."

Feeling heavy, as if he was dreaming, Miyuki nodded numbly. His mother smiled at him widely, wider than it should be probably possible but he didn't pay any attention to that. He moved his gaze at the dagger in his hands and let it fall down; the blade hit stony floor, cracking it.

Relief flooded through Miyuki and he looked back his mother, smiling brightly. She could be with him, finally!

His mother was smiling at him too.

Her eyes were red and teeth pointy.

* * *

It was like his first mission all over again.

Kicking another opponent aside, Sawamura could only helplessly observe how Miyuki let go of the dagger. The spectre smiled at that, black smoke coming from its mouth, and raised its hand. Sawamura started to run towards them, not caring anymore about his opponents, trying to push through them with sheer force. But he was too late, just like he had been the last time.

The demon hit Miyuki, strength of that punch throwing the magician off the stage as if he didn't weight anything. Sawamura screamed, his vision going red and he charged the demon, wanting no more than to rip it to shreds.

The demon raised its hand again and invisible hand caught Sawamura, and threw him aside. He landed on his side, protecting his head, just like the boss had taught him. He heard how his sword had flew away from him, sliding over the stony ground.

"Ah, how I missed this air!"

Sawamura sat slowly, spitting blood. His whole body hurt and he couldn't move his right wrist. Yet, it wasn't so bad seeing Miyuki lying not so far from him, motionlessly. Sawamura could tell he was alive, but he was hurt too.

He looked at the stage, where the demon was standing, watching remaining pirates like they were a tasty meal. It was changing its appearance: its skin was becoming grey and scale-like. Those red eyes became bigger, more oval; even its fingers got longer, looking more like claws.

When it spoke, its voice sounded like death itself.

"The magician promised me you." The demon said, looking at the pirates.

Only then, Sawamura noticed dark strands going from pirates to the jewel; right, Amahisa had mentioned something about it.

The guy with the red beard fell onto his knees. His face was badly burned and he was looking at the coffin instead of the demon… Wait a second. Sawamura gasped when he noticed that the guy was blind; had Miyuki cursed him?

"Oh, great goddess! If you help us, we will –"

"The pact," the demon hissed, its eyes burning like fire. Its dark powers were engulfing Sawamura with their strength. "The magician promised me a meal."

"You will receive it!" The same guy yelled.

Sawamura noticed that some of the pirates started to move back, uncertainty written all over their faces. The demon was looking more and more annoyed, and Sawamura couldn't blame them for wanting to run away. Hadn't Miyuki said that Amahisa wanted to sacrifice those criminals?

Summoning demons wasn't taught at the Gild, but Sawamura knew what a magical pact meant. It was an exchange: one thing for another of the equivalent value. Amahisa had been screaming something about being recognized by the Oasis… and he wasn't connected with that dark jewel…

Suddenly, Sawamura understood. Keeping an eye of the stage, he ran to Miyuki as fast as he could. It was difficult to move, the wounds on his legs were slowing him down, but Sawamura had to reach Miyuki and run away from this place before the bloodbath would happen.

"The pact," the demon repeated, looking at Amahisa's unconscious figure. "He promised, but he doesn't answer me now." The demon's powers seemed to increase. "I'm… hungry."

Sawamura froze hearing that. The demon wasn't looking at Amahisa anymore, but was observing the pirates with hunger in its eyes, the long, splinted tongue licking its lips.

"Power for food… I was promised that…" The demon took a step towards the captain. It was sniffing the air like a dog would. "I was… promised that…"

It jumped onto the captain with terrifying speed, before Sawamura could scream. The demon caught the captain's head between its long, bony fingers, crushing it with ease. Then it opened its jaw and _bit_ the body, its pointy teeth ripping through flesh like it was warm butter.

Sawamura felt sick.

Around him, people started to scream and run away towards the entrance Sawamura had seen before; yet, the moment they wanted to leave the ruins. The black jewel – a diamond? – started to shine and pirates were dropping to the ground like flies, unable to move past the ruins.

Not waiting to see how the demon was gulping down its victim blood, Sawamura focused on Miyuki. He finally reached the magician, not interrupted by anyone; his heart sank when he noticed that Miyuki was still unconscious.

"Miyuki!" He screamed, kneeling next to the magician and pulling him onto his back. Then he saw blood at Miyuki's front and, gods, it was like with Furuya all over again. "Miyuki, wake up!"

Sawamura's magic reached to Miyuki's, linking them together – at least Miyuki's powers were still responding to Sawamura. He shook Miyuki a little, afraid of waking him up. He thought about the magic jewel in his sword, but it was lying on the other side of the cave. He didn't have time to reach it.

Another person yelled.

Still trying to wake up Miyuki, Sawamura observed how the demon attacked another pirate, killing him by ripping his heart out and then eating it. It was laughing, obviously enjoying the fear and terror it was causing, and Sawamura had never before felt so scared.

Even dying hadn't been that scary.

* * *

Miyuki opened his eyes, looking at Sawamura with confusion. Why was Sawamura kneeling by him? Why was his whole body hurting?

An inhuman scream brought Miyuki's memories back. He gasped and tried to sit down, only to almost blackout from the pain again.

"Miyuki!" Sawamura hoisted Miyuki up, helping him to sit. "Miyuki, we need to do something!"

He looked like he'd been hit, Miyuki thought. The paladin's lips were cut, he had a black eye, and there were bleeding wounds on his legs and arms, his right wrist was badly swollen. Although, with pain so big, Miyuki wanted to cry, he supposed he didn't look much better.

One look at the ruins answered all of Miyuki's questions. The demon was feasting on the pirates, who, for some reason, were unable to run outside the ruins. The dark powers of the creature was getting stronger with every gulp of blood and it was a matter of minutes before the demon would think about him and Sawamura as another meal.

"We need to destroy the jewel." Miyuki touched his hurt side, feeling something wet under his cloak. He quickly casted a healing spell, hoping it would be enough for now. "Amahisa brought her… it… through it. The diamond is what binds it to this world."

Sawamura nodded, not questioning why Miyuki knew that. If they survived this, Miyuki knew he would have a lot of explaining to do. Still, Sawamura's powers were moving along Miyuki's and all Miyuki could sense in Sawamura was a healthy dose of fear and a lot of determination. Without thinking, he let his powers join Sawamura's, using the boost of his magic to numb the pain in his side. He didn't have time to care for it now.

"Try to destroy it and I'll help them." Sawamura announced, standing up. He almost lost his balance, but he still drew out his dagger.

"You won't win!" Miyuki hissed.

He stood up too, feeling as if he was going to vomit at any moment.

"It will kill everyone!" Sawamura yelled back, his aura hurt.

He didn't want to do it, Miyuki abruptly realized. He didn't want to, but he couldn't let more people get killed.

But before Miyuki had a chance to answer, the demon talked aloud in the voice that gave him chills.

"You're still alive."

Taking a deep breath, Miyuki looked at the demon. It was observing the both of them with interest, not looking any more like Miyuki's mother, but more like a mix between a human and a sea serpent. Miyuki couldn't believe he had got tricked by it; he had learnt about not looking demons in their eyes and had done just that. He was the one with pirates' blood on his hands, not Amahisa.

"Go, kitten." Miyuki pushed Sawamura aside, standing in front of the paladin. "I'll take care of it."

He was too weak to run and would never reach the stage in time. But maybe he would have enough magical powers left to stop the demon until Sawamura destroyed the diamond.

"I was promised a meal. You can't take it away from me." The demon hissed and turned to them with a whirl, its powers shaking the whole cave. "I was promised a bloodbath!"

Miyuki had only a split of a second to cast the shield spell, but it was useless; the demon had kicked Sawamura, before the paladin had a chance to protect himself. Sawamura fell on his knees, spitting blood. Miyuki tried to reach for him, but the demon caught him by his throat and raised him up. Miyuki grabbed the bony arm holding him, hitting it with a small knife he always had with him, but it was fruitless. The demon didn't even seem to notice that.

"I was promised a sacrifice." The demon repeated; Miyuki could see its tongue and, gods, it had another set of teeth inside its jaw and Miyuki knew he was going to feel them on his skin soon.

He tried to gather his magic, still connected with Sawamura's, but the demon only snared at him and hit his ribs again. Miyuki screamed in pain, blood dripping down his chin. He wasn't sure what could kill him first: the pain or losing blood.

"Leave him alone!" Sawamura yelled from the ground, hitting it.

Despite being hit so strongly, he almost couldn't move, he had enough strength to shake the ground under the demon's legs. Somehow, it made Miyuki proud. He had chosen his warrior well; despite his injures, Sawamura could still move, so there was a chance he would be able to escape.

The demon was hissing something to Sawamura and Miyuki used that moment to focus on his powers, on the connection between them. Both of them were dead tired, but the connection was strong. Miyuki would be able to send Sawamura his magic, before dying, giving the other enough strength to escape.

Miyuki could feel how Sawamura was gathering his magic too, but the lack of oxygen and pain was making him unable to understand what Sawamura was doing. With a great effort, Miyuki opened his eyes and looked down, searching for Sawamura's. The demon was still holding Miyuki up, not tightening its hold, too busy with pressing Sawamura's back to the ground with its foot; the floor under Sawamura was cracked and he looked like he was barely staying conscious.

He wasn't screaming, though, still trying to fight. The demon laughed – a chilly, high sound – and in that moment Miyuki's and Sawamura's gazes connected. Not wasting any more time, already seeing dark spots in his vision, Miyuki pushed his magic towards Sawamura, only wanting to save the person he cared about the most.

His powers rushed to Sawamura, but at the same time Sawamura pushed his powers to Miyuki. Miyuki wanted to laugh, feeling an unfamiliar power enclosing around him. He had wanted to save Sawamura, but the stubborn paladin had to try to save Miyuki too.

Yet, the moment when their powers switched places, something happened.

The demon screamed in pain, throwing Miyuki down. He fell onto his hands and knees, breathing hard. The magic was burning in his veins, connecting with the big part of his powers inside of Sawamura. It didn't feel that different from his own; there was something similar in that powers, something was filling him with strength. Miyuki raised his head and saw Sawamura lying on his side behind the demon, obviously as shocked as Miyuki.

The demon screamed something in a language Miyuki didn't know and launched towards him, this time to kill him on spot.

Its claws never reached Miyuki.

Their combined magic, Sawamura's powers in Miyuki and his own in Sawamura's responded to each others harder than ever before and exploded in a bright, blinding light. The beast stopped in its attack, falling down and screaming in agony.

There were strands of white light connecting Sawamura to Miyuki, and the demon was kneeling right in the middle of it. It was trying to destroy those strands, but it was futile. Instead of disappearing, they were wrapping themselves around the beast's body, tightening their hold on the demon.

Miyuki felt powerful, the magic singing inside him, around him, and he could even hear its faint melody coming from Sawamura. It was intoxicating to feel that much power. That magic was his and Sawamura's, but also wasn't, acting as if on their one, trying to destroy something that threatened the lives of Sawamura and Miyuki…

Suddenly, Miyuki understood.

 _Pure magic._

Because of the pain, Miyuki couldn't tell how he knew that, but he knew it he was right. And magic that pure, something some scientists called the essence of magic, was enough to stop a creature born from the darkest of rituals, bounded to this planet by the blood of the innocent. Yet, with his head dizzy and feeling like he was going to faint any time soon, Miyuki knew it wasn't enough to stop the demon. They had to destroy the jewel, but he was unable to walk and Sawamura seemed to be unable to get up.

The paladin was looking at Miyuki with wide eyes and through their emotional bond Miyuki could feel how _glad_ Sawamura was that he could have meet Miyuki in his short lifetime. He could feel all those powerful, deep emotions and he answered with his own, with the most guarded thoughts he had never before let himself think about – they made Sawamura smile, they made the melody of magic sound louder, causing the beast to scream in pure agony and making the light brighter. The beast was whole covered in pure magic, but it wasn't enough to kill it yet!

"Magician!" One of the remaining pirates kneeled next to Miyuki.

He had completely forgot about them and didn't even have the strength to protect himself. Yet, the pirate didn't kill him, instead, laying the black diamond down on the ground next to Miyuki.

"Destroy it," he begged, shaking from fear. Miyuki could see that the last remaining pirates were standing at the other side of ruins, too terrified to do anything. "I-I heard your talk, just destroy it!" He pushed the jewel towards Miyuki with his stump and screamed when the beast yelled again.

Nodding numbly, Miyuki took the jewel. The pure magic was strong, much stronger that the one in the diamond, but Miyuki still hissed in pain at the touch of that dark magic. He didn't had the dagger Amahisa had created and he had only one idea how to destroy it.

As if sensing his intent, the demon screamed.

"I will get her for you, tainted one!" Miyuki's hands with the diamond shook just centimeters away from the barrier created the light of his and Sawamura's magic. "I will let you see her!"

Miyuki shook his head.

"You won't deceive me again," he yelled hotly at the demon. He wasn't going to make that mistake again!

 _Do it, Miyuki!_ Miyuki didn't even question why he could hear Sawamura's voice in his head. The paladin was still lying on his side, his eyes never leaving Miyuki's.

Taking a deep and praying it would work, Miyuki pushed the jewel inside the cocoon of strands of light created by the pure magic.

An earth shattering shrill sounded in the cave. Miyuki covered his ears, but he could still hear it. The beast was screaming like a dying animal, streaks of black smoke coming from the cocoon with the demon and the diamond. The black jewel was burning, being destroyed by Miyuki and Sawamura's magic. It was cracking under the pressure of their combined powers and, with every crack, the demon screamed louder; not wanting to wait any more and fearing that their powers would break the link before the jewel got destroyed, Miyuki did the most illogical, stupid thing one could had done with a dark magic artifact.

He hit it.

For the second time, in less than an hour, Miyuki was sent flying through the air. The moment his fist, with a thunderbolt spell, connected with the jewel's surface, there had been an explosion. Pain ran through his shoulder and Miyuki screamed, and kept screaming long after his body hit the floor.

He body was on fire; he was hurting like never before, shaking like a leaf. Healing spells in his clothes weren't helping at all and Miyuki didn't even have enough magical powers for the most simple spell. He felt the presence of Sawamura coming towards him. Miyuki barely could open his eyes to look at Sawamura; the paladin had a fresh cut on his face – was it because of the exploding jewel? – and he was looking at Miyuki with horrified expression.

"You will be all right," he said, his voice shaking. He took Miyuki into his arms and Miyuki wondered simply how he still had the strength to move him. "Do you hear me? Miyuki, stay with me! We killed her, you cannot die on me now!"

Sawamura's voice was urgent, scared – Miyuki could feel it both through the emotional link and Sawamura's aura. He tried to stay conscious, but he was in such a great amount of pain that even breathing hurt. He couldn't feel his ribs, he couldn't feel his right palm – he thought he remembered seeing it get burnt when he had hit the diamond – and everything was getting blurry.

Somehow, Miyuki was aware that he was dying. He had lost too much blood and the city was too far away. There was nothing he or Sawamura could do.

Sawamura was still talking to him, but Miyuki couldn't understand his words. He found enough strength to touch Sawamura's face though. The paladin got quiet in an instant, the little of what was rest of his powers wrapping itself protectively around Miyuki.

There were many things Miyuki wanted to say: about their bond, about what kind of Sawamura's feelings he could feel, about how proud he was of him for even managing to get this far.

And yet, because fate was a bitch and hated him, Miyuki managed only a quiet ' _Good work, kitten'_ , before he felt that his body was giving up, feeling sadness that he would never be able to say aloud what he had been thinking back then, when they had managed to link their powers on an imaginable level

Still, being surrounded by the magic of his bondmate wasn't a bad way to go.

* * *

Miyuki had woken up, long before he decided to open his eyes.

It wasn't like in books. Right from the beginning, Miyuki had remembered everything that had happened: Amahisa summoning the demon, his and Sawamura's fight, destroying the jewel. Everything was so clear in Miyuki's mind, along with the memory of being sure that he was going to die.

He honestly doubted that the afterlife should smell like medicine, starch and herbs. Moreover, he shouldn't be sensing Sawamura's presence in the afterlife – no, Miyuki wished for Sawamura to live a long, prosperous life.

"Are you going to open your eyes or not?" Sawamura's voice asked, way too loud for Miyuki's liking. "I know you're not sleeping."

Well, he should finally check if he was dead or not.

The bright light made Miyuki's squint his eyes. A shadow on his right moved and then leaned above Miyuki, sliding something over his nose. Miyuki's vision immediately sharpened, but his eyes needed a few minutes more to adjust.

Miyuki blinked at the ceiling, sunlight not hurting his eyes anymore. He turned his face to the side, taking in everything around him. He was lying a small room with walls painted in yellow. There was Sawamura sitting at his right, holding Miyuki's hand covered in bandages – a wave of fear moved through Miyuki when he realized he couldn't feel anything in that fear.

"It's okay." Miyuki looked up at Sawamura, who was glancing at the hand he was holding. "The healer said they injected it with a strong anesthetic or it would still hurt you."

"Still?" Miyuki rasped. "How long was I unconscious?"

It must be very long. Not because Sawamura's face was free of all wounds – a few healing spells could deal with that under ten minutes – but because he could feel that his powers were back to their normal level. Miyuki had distantly remembered using all of his powers. The last time he had done something like that, he had waited over a week for his powers to come back.

"Four days." Sawamura answered quietly. "I was…" He didn't finished that thought, instead asking if Miyuki wanted to sit.

Miyuki let Sawamura help him, wondering what Sawamura had wanted to say. Had he been waiting for Miyuki wake up all this time? Had he been worried about him? That last thing was something Sawamura didn't need to speak aloud at all; Miyuki could clearly feel it.

Sawamura gave Miyuki a glass of water from off the bedside table and Miyuki drank it quickly, his throat feeling like a dried sponge. After two glasses, Miyuki refused more; he wanted to drink more, but if he hadn't been eating for four days, it would be the best idea to drink too much now. Sawamura was talking about how masters Kunitomo and Rei visited him before, and how even Furuya had come there to check on Miyuki – they were still in Saranka, after all – and told them they should visit him in the workshop.

Miyuki licked his lips and to buy time, before the serious talk they needed to have, he started to observe his right hand. It was bandaged up to his elbow and, no matter how much he probed it, he couldn't feel a thing. Those were some good anesthetics.

"… Do you want to know what happened?" Sawamura asked. He was disturbingly calm and it was unnerving Miyuki; he couldn't completely read Sawamura.

He nodded and the paladin launched into a tale. Apparently, summoning the demon had released so much power that it had alarmed the magicians in the city. They had been running around in circles at the beach, not being able to locate the source of the dark magic. When Sawamura and Miyuki's magic exploded, it had destroyed the old wards put on the cliff and ruins inside. The magicians had gone inside and were able to save them both. The last five remaining pirates had surrendered without a word and they were waiting for the trial – yet, according to Sawamura's words, it was most likely they would be kept in an asylum for mentally ill people, since they were having nightmares about the demon and they weren't able to properly function without a healthy dose of pills.

Miyuki couldn't really feel sorry for them.

Amahisa, Sawamura said, had been woken up by master Kunitomo. The older magician had broken Miyuki's sleeping spell and Amahisa had been already questioned. He had admitted to breaking into the libraries, but swore that he wasn't a killer. He hadn't been able to pass the entrance exam to the Oasis and, shortly after that, it had been found out that his family was cheating at taxes. Without money and any other properties, Amahisa had swore to get his revenge, believing that his family hadn't done anything bad, he had said it was easy to learn about summoning demons from the illegal books his family had and which he had gathered from libraries and private houses. After that, it was only a matter of time before he had found the perfect victims to sacrifice: a big crew of pirates, who had almost been killed off by soldiers of the royal family.

On a side note, researchers were now trying to discover in which book Amahisa had found information about ruins of the temple and the black jewel to create the sacrifice. Apparently, centuries ago, the magicians of Inashi created the cliff, hiding the temple and its dark powers away. Only someone, who had tried to summon a demon could find the hidden entrance and then open it another one, which one could reach from a nearby lake – that would explain the pirates' words about almost drowning.

At the end, Sawamura added a list of their injuries. He himself suffered broken lips, broken wrist, many cuts on different parts of the body, mainly arms, a puncture wound to his right lung by the broken ribs when the demon had stepped on him, and a black eye. Everything had been healed already, but the healers wanted him to stay longer in the hospital.

Compared to him, Miyuki's list was relatively short, but not much better: he had a few cuts, broken ribs, and his right hand had barely been saved.

"They thought about amputating it." Sawamura said quietly, his fingers twitching, as if he wanted to hold Miyuki's hand again; a part of Miyuki wanted him to do it. "But then professor Rei showed up one day after… you know everything… and she destroyed the curse." Sawamura's lips curled into small smile. "She is pretty furious at you for destroying an artifact of black magic with just your bare hands."

Through their connection, Miyuki could feel Sawamura's happiness, and it made him feel a little better too.

"I had to destroy it. I wasn't sure if that… if that magic could do it." Miyuki confessed, absentmindedly stroking the bandage on his hand. He couldn't imagine losing it completely.

For the first time, Sawamura's temperament flared.

"You could wait." Sawamura almost growled, curling his hands into fists. "It was almost destroyed."

Sawamura's magic raised, angry and hurt, and Miyuki took a deep breath to not lose his calm.

"We were both so close to fainting and there was no way I could retrieve the dagger." Miyuki explained, hoping he sounded enough reasonable. "It was the only way."

Sawamura didn't seem convinced. His eyes were blazing with anger, but he was trying to control his powers.

"That pirate could have gone for it!"

"He almost shit his pants just getting the diamond! I didn't have time to explain to him why we needed the dagger!" Miyuki snapped, his temper getting better of him. Obviously, he was still tired.

Sawamura stood up, his powers causing the glass in windows to tremble, when he screamed:

"You almost died! You know it could've killed you and you still did it anyways! You died, when I was holding you, you stopped breaking, and I couldn't save you!" Sawamura was yelling in Miyuki's face, his eyes full of tears. "We could think about something! Do you know how horrible I felt, when you fucking _died_?"

Sawamura's pain was hurting Miyuki too. He gasped at the strength of Sawamura's emotion, surprised at how Sawamura really was hurt. He wanted to say something comforting, but everything he could think about was quiet:

"I know how it feels like."

At that, Sawamura sat back on his chair, heavily, hiding his face in his hands. He looked so broken, Miyuki reached to him without thinking, laying his bandaged palm on Sawamura's knee.

Sawamura's voice was hoarse, when he started speaking, his shoulders shaking.

"It was like a huge part of me died. I don't care about what professor Rei or the headmaster say… I don't care if you believe we are battery, _fuck_ , I don't care if we are a battery at all." Miyuki's eyebrows raised in surprised. Sawamura rarely cursed. "But there is that… that bond between us… and I could always feel your presence… and then your magic froze and I… I…" He got quiet, his shoulders shaking even more.

"It was like you were the last person on the planet. Like your world crumbled down," whispered Miyuki, remembered all too well the terror he had felt when Sawamura's heart stopped beating all those months ago. Sawamura nodded, still covering his face, and Miyuki pulled at his arm. "Come here, kitten."

"Huh?" Sawamura raised his head; his eyes were red and puffy.

"I said 'come here, kitten'," Miyuki repeated and leaned against pillows, patting the free space next to him. He knew what Sawamura needed now – it was the same thing Miyuki had needed before: to know that Sawamura was really live.

Sawamura's eyes widened and he looked surprised, but his aura was showing how happy he was. Without wasting any more second, Sawamura sat on the bed next to Miyuki and snuggled against him; they were lying side by side, with Sawamura's head against Miyuki's shoulder.

"Better, kitten?" Miyuki asked.

It wasn't like him to let someone get so close to him, but it was Sawamura, and somehow Miyuki thought it would be okay if he did bare his heart for the paladin.

Hadn't he done that already?

Sawamura's powers tentatively reached for Miyuki's and Miyuki answered that call. When their powers combined, it was different this time: more deep and stable, yet, in the end, it was filling Miyuki up with warmth and the feeling of being whole.

But then a feeling of uneasiness crept into Sawamura's aura, pulling Miyuki back into the reality. He hadn't realized when he started to doze off.

"What is it?"

Sawamura wiggled on the bed and Miyuki didn't have to see his face to know what the paladin was feeling.

"… You said you performed that summon once." Sawamura said slowly. "Professor Rei said I should ask you… But you don't have to tell me anything! Seriously, I'm fine, we can talk later, we can –"

"Sawamura? Shut up." Miyuki interrupted the paladin and awkwardly pet his hair with his left hand. "I think… I think you should know."

Miyuki was glad Sawamura was half-lying next to him; at least he didn't have to see his face.

"My mom died, when I was eight years old." Sawamura froze next to him and raised his head, but Miyuki pressed it back against his shoulder, hushing the paladin. "You will talk later... Anyways, she was one of the researchers of demons and she had the royal permission to do so. She believed in many different legends… in legends of batteries too. When she died… I was a bit of a mommy's boy and I was devastated. You know what I did? I went to mountains to collect blue flowers…"

"Because legend says that Sirki used blue flowers to bring her husband back to life," whispered Sawamura.

Miyuki nodded, his cheek brushing against Sawamura's hair.

"Yes. It was my sacrifice." Sawamura tensed, obviously realizing where this story was going. "I don't know what kind of a demon Amahisa summoned, but I knew the spell, because it was the same one I found in my mom's books. It was about how a demon would grant me my wish, how it could even bend the laws of the world to do so." Miyuki closed his eyes, cursing himself for how stupid he had been. "I didn't know the information wasn't complete and I was lucky it was the day when professor Rei was sent to collect my mother's books. She was the one who had saved me."

Sawamura stirred, grabbing Miyuki's right hand, and squeezed it as if trying to cheer him up. A sound started to resonate from their magic and Miyuki soaked in it: in the comfort of their magic and of having Sawamura close to himself.

"This is why she is your mentor?"

"Yes," Miyuki answered after a long moment. "When the demon almost killed me, I awakened my powers. She and master Kunitomo taught me how to control it. I… This is also why I didn't notify them about Amahisa."

"Huh?" Sawamura's breath ghosted over Miyuki's cheek. "Why?"

Miyuki laughed bitterly, feeling like a complete idiot.

"I wanted to make them proud of me." There was something in having Sawamura close to himself it making Miyuki confess everything. "The demon called me tainted, because magicians who have tried to summon demons once would try to do it again. I wanted to show them I wasn't like that. In the end, I almost killed us." Miyuki opened his eyes and looked at Sawamura, who was observing him with sadness. "Have you ever seen professor Rei in a blouse with short sleeves?"

Sawamura's furrowed.

"Not even if the summer." He said, surprised at his own words.

Miyuki nodded.

"This is because she has a scar going from her wrist up. She got it when she was saving me." Miyuki looked at his bandaged hand. "There are no glamour charms which can hide a scar made by a demon's bite."

Sawamura took a breath with whistle.

"It bit her," he whispered, horrified.

"It tried to feast on her," Miyuki corrected. "She is exceptionally strong and was able to escape, but…"

"But you still feel guilty."

"Yeah."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, their magic leisurely moving around them, when Sawamura suddenly jumped on the bed and slapped his own face with his hands. Miyuki looked at, puzzled. What was that?

"I just thought _'I wished you didn't summon a demon'_ , but then we wouldn't be able to stop Amahisa, right?" Sawamura asked and smiled brightly; gods, Miyuki missed that wide grin. "You destroyed the diamond and you proved what you wanted. And next time, I'll be at your side, to stop you from doing anything stupid."

Miyuki snorted at that, his side prickling in pain. Sawamura huffed.

"Hey! What was that supposed to mean?!"

"You aren't exactly known for your common sense, you know that right?" Miyuki smirked, enjoying riling Sawamura up.

It was fun, and normal, and right now, he desperately needed to feel normal again.

Sawamura pouted.

"For once, everyone think it's you who lost your mind." Sawamura poked his tongue out at him. "They didn't kicked us out from our schools… Although, I heard it was close. And next time, master Chris is going on a mission with us!" Sawamura jumped on the bed again, like a giant puppy.

Miyuki rolled his eyes.

"So I will have to endure your crazy fan like behavior?" He teased.

"I don't act like a crazy fun!" Sawamura yelled, making a face. Then, he suddenly blushed, and their magic became much warmer. "After all… you… when we created the magic field…" he mumbled and Miyuki blushed too. He would never be able to forgot about that moment when he could see the deepest feelings of Sawamura's heart. "You know how I feel… about you, right?" Sawamura asked stubbornly, embarrassed, but ready to endure it till the end. He was holding Miyuki's hands in his. "It's not… not because of the bond."

Miyuki nodded, looking between their hand and Sawamura's face, feeling that his cheeks were growing hotter and hotter. After all, Sawamura had been able to see Miyuki's heart too… And he was sure his own feelings hadn't been born from the bond.

Miyuki couldn't talk about feelings, but the hope on Sawamura's face was kicking down all of his defenses.

"I know… And…" Miyuki licked his lips, not knowing how to word what was needed to be said, when a thought occurred to him.

With a wicked smile, Miyuki raised Sawamura's hands and gently planted a kiss on them, enjoying the way Sawamura gasped, how their magic became warmer. It was something he could get used to, Miyuki thought.

When he looked at Sawamura, the paladin was red as tomato.

"I… I…" Sawamura obviously was too embarrassed to say anything, clutching his hands to his chest.

Miyuki grinned. So many times he had thought about how to shut up Sawamura and _that_ was all he needed to do?

Seeing that smile, Sawamura bolted from the bed.

"I-I promised to tell the healers when you woke up!" He yelled and ran towards the door. Miyuki laughed at the embarrassed paladin, when Sawamura looked at him from the door, there was something in his smile that Miyuki recognized from his own smirk. "And when you get better, I'll show you how to kiss properly!" And then he was gone.

Miyuki was stunned for a whole minute, before he started to laugh loudly, not minding the pain in his side. Through their emotional bond, he could feel how deathly embarrassed Sawamura was at himself and at Miyuki, and how terrified he was of what he had promised, but at the same time, he was shyly looking for an opportunity to fulfill that promise.

That was something Miyuki really looked forward too.

 _Fin_


End file.
